Mobile VS Desktop SEO Strategies—How To Do and What ‘s The Difference
The first question you probably have is, “My website is responsive, so my website uses the same content for its mobile and desktop version, so the mobile vs desktop argument shouldn’t apply, right?” In traditional SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) terms, the argument is moot, but there are several other modern SEO factors that apply. These include things like mobile and desktop usability, loading speeds, on-page tools and so forth.
What is SEO Strategies?
Data from search engines have shown that as smartphone penetrations continue to increase in the global market, mobile search activities have outshined desktop searches since 2015. SEO or Search engine optimization can be defined as the integration of strategies that seek to enhance both the quality and quantity of website traffic by customizing search results. The number of visitors to a firm’s website is vital since it plays a central role in increasing lead conversions. SEO strategies, therefore, are designed to boost the size of traffic that a firm’s website receives. This, in turn, creates the potential for more sales.
Your SEO Fundamentals Stay the Same
Your fundamentals include having a focus keyphrase, filling out your tabbed keywords (meta keywords), filling out your meta description, adding alt-text to images, and so forth. Many of the differences that affect mobile vs desktop conversion rates are related to usability rather than some specific mobile SEO or desktop SEO feature.
How Does SEO Come Into the Mobile/Desktop Situation?
The usability of your website matters a great deal towards your SEO. Google ranks your website based on the data it collects from users of the Google search engine, YouTube, Google Chrome users, and from its Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics tools (aka, data collected from other people’s websites). Google is using big data analysis to figure out what people want, and then to figure out if you are the one offering it.
As a result, people bouncing from your mobile website because it loads slowly, or people avoiding your desktop website because it looks like a touch-screen panel, is going to affect your SEO. That is why these days people are able to break traditional SEO rules and still rank at the top of the search engine results because people are still visiting their website and sticking around.
Factors Influencing Mobile and Desktop SEO Strategies
SEO strategies are based on the devices used by the target audience. Different strategies will work best when targeting customers using desktops as opposed to how they will work when targeting those using smartphones. Comparing mobile vs desktop conversion rates can help determine the success of the specific SEO strategies that a firm has implemented.
Here are the factors that make mobile SEO strategies different from desktop SEO strategies:
Screen Size
The SEO strategies should be based on the browsing habits of potential customers. The size of a device determines how users browse the web and what they are likely to search on the internet. A small screen limits the time that potential customers spend on search engines while devices that can generate pdf from Html make it easier for the users to access more information.
User Intent
Analysis from search engines like Google indicates that data specifying the purpose of an internet search helps determine browsing habits. Users browsing through desktops are more likely to spend more time digging for more information on the internet as compared to mobile phone users who tend to focus on a single task.
Micro-Moments
According to Google, this refers to identifying what a web user is likely to look up from their search engine. This helps predict potential searches executed on the search engines.
Differences Between Mobile and Desktop SEO Strategies
SEO strategies are based on the kind of devices that potential customers are using. Users of mobile devices are closer to making purchases as compared to those using desktops. Desktop users tend to use search engines to get more information on certain products or services.
SEO Strategies for mobile and desktop are different in four main ways as highlighted below:
Ranking Algorithms
When it comes to the ranking algorithms used in SEO strategies, there is a difference between those used for mobile and those used for desktop searches. When a user uses a smartphone to make online searches, algorithms tend to incorporate location to customise results.
Quality Signals
Based on the device that the target audience is using, a firm should use SEO strategies that correspond to such a device. Quality signals are based on the type of signal, search algorithms, and paper-based hyperlinks.
Search Behavior
The search trends of both mobile and desktop users should determine the SEO strategies that a business adopts. Mobile searches offer wide search options as compared to desktops since they readily allow voice and gesture searches. An SEO strategy that is aligned to customer behaviour, therefore, is likely to be more effective with mobile searches as compared to using general strategies.
Levels of Engagement
Mobile searches are more likely to be engaging as compared to desktop searchers hence the need to customise your SEO strategies to mobile searches. For more engagement, it makes sense for any business to ensure that they create SEO strategies that are mobile-friendly since more people have access to smartphones.
Differentiating SEO Strategies for Desktop and Mobile
For a business to ensure that its websites offer web users a better experience, its owners must adopt certain industry standards for each of the websites. Below are the strategies that businesses can adopt to differentiate mobile from desktop SEO efforts.
- Consider integrating voice search. There are different types of searches available to customers although the main one is typing on the text engine. To enhance the experience of customers who visit their website or use their mobile applications, businesses need to integrate voice searches for better efficiency.
- Ensure that SEO strategies are customised for a certain web user. Although many firms use a single SEO strategy for both mobile and desktop campaigns, it is not effective due to the dynamics involved. To enhance efficiency and increase customer experience, businesses need to develop separate strategies for each platform.
- Track and measure success for each approach differently. The success of SEO strategies can differ greatly and each business needs to understand what is working for them and optimise it. Each SEO strategy needs to be tracked and analysed independently using specific measurement parameters to determine its success or failure.
- Analyse page speeds for both mobile and desktop versions. Mobile pages tend to load faster as compared to website pages hence the need for each business to optimise them independently. For websites, some elements could be excluded from what mobile sites offer to increase the speed of page loading.
- Use website analytic filters to track and analyse the behaviour of visitors to your website. This is essential for any firm looking to provide customised responses to potential customers.
Website Loading and Render Times
Of all the traditional SEO rules, you probably wouldn’t have guessed that website rendering and loading would be as important today as it was back then. Loading and rendering are important because it is one of the few things that most webmasters do not have full control over.
For example, if you are running a regular responsive website with a CMS with shared hosting, then the most you can do is to choose a lightweight theme, keep your media files from being too weighty (aka, no more than they have to be), and then the rest is up to your ISP (internet service provider). It is true that you can always pick another ISP, but that is about as far as you can affect your website speed without doing something drastic like buying very expensive VPS or dedicated server hosting.
How do you apply this to your responsive website? You make sure your media files are not too large. E.g. how is a 3000x3000px image going to help mobile users? Make sure you pick a fast theme, you keep your adverts to a minimum. Do not load up on plugins, and do not choose free web hosting (unless it is from Blogger by Google). Also, use the Google Speed Insights tool to see what is slowing down your website.
Summary
It is important that any process that requires the user to keep your web page active, such as using online tools, be as efficient as possible, especially with mobile devices where people cannot keep a single web page active for long periods.
Finally, you must concentrate on user usability above all else because Google and Bing are very interested in how quickly users navigate away from your website. Any and all problems can be addressed with perpetual user testing. Keep testing your website in every which way, using real people, and using a variety of devices.
