Mobile SEO - Is it important?	Visited: 1214 5.0/5.0 (4 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
by David Liu April 29, 2010

In the world of SEO, the mobile browser is still relatively untouched in terms of link strategies. Using handheld visits to track and improve traffic is also a rather new process – involving detailed tracking software that is yet to be available on the market.

With industry research stating that mobile marketing is expected to grow by 45% through 2010 and mobile behemoths like Apple stating that ads will now come standard on many applications, the need to direct marketing focuses towards cell phone users is becoming more urgent everyday. 

Andy Hagans runs MobileSearchMarketing.com, and the self-proclaimed link monger says, "With mobile sites slugging it out in the present mess, our goals haven't fundamentally changed. We still want traffic, and we still want users to find us in search engines.”

The number of browsers who use mobile phones to research companies and products have grown tremendously in the last few years, even though the majority of internet searchers are still desktop and laptop users. Most of those who care to comment on mobile SEO seem to feel the same way about it - that it is a different form of optimization than regular SEO. 

Mobile browsing itself has only become popular in recent years, with regular smartphone users finally adapting to the upgrades in higher speed wireless data networks that allow for smooth on-the-go browsing. With quicker and more fluid browsing came advertisers, who have already jumped into the mobile ring with dominant ads that don't, as of yet, have to share the billboard space.

Even though mobile SEO, let alone mobile marketing of any sort, is still hitting its stride, most agree that the learning process should be regarded similarly to the original internet boom when web design itself was still a new art form. Researchers are still figuring out how to track usage statistics from mobile users, and the emergence of smartphones that can operate regular websites (as opposed to WAP or other mobile-specific platforms) has changed the way the process is developing.

Before smartphones like the iPhone and Nexus One, businesses geared their mobile efforts towards lower-end mobile-only sites with limited options and faster loading designs. This was partly due to cell phones running on slower internet speeds as well as the simple browser capabilities at the time. As of late WAP and WML, both mobile web standards, are slowly being phased out for higher end phones with handheld computer-like features that allow for rich online experiences like VoIP phone services and video transferring.

Now, in an environment similar to web developers who were running beta-tests of young 90's search engines like Lycos and Altavista, Google and Yahoo are developing ways to use geo-tags on mobile users. Geo-tagging currently allows the locations of users to be disclosed - something that popular social networking sites like Facebook are taking advantage of when choosing which advertisements are displayed to users. 

While location results are important, many regular SEO options are important as well, such as the use of shorter, more generalized keywords (versus long-tailed or product specific ones) for mobile users, who most likely will be using less keystrokes to get to their desired destination. Furthermore, is there a strong PPC market for mobiles? With plenty of new questions and mobile-predicaments now on the horizon, mobile search engine optimization may finally become a player in the online results of Google and Yahoo.  

Imagine the possibility of narrowing down the locations of mobile users, and then shooting local ads onto their handheld devices, or bringing up localized paid search results. Mobile SEO is now in the same boat as Lycos and Altavista were, and depending on the type of phone, and even the browser, search results can be narrowed depending on best optimized browsing experience, as well as best localized results. Here's hoping anyone entering the fray now fares better.