Mobile SEO – Techniques Needs to Know About Mobile SEO

Mobile SEO refers to the search engine optimization of websites combined with perfect viewing on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets. Thanks to the building boom of portable devices, webmasters should be highly concerned with their mobile SEO plan. After all, more than 50% of Internet users now report surfing websites on their mobile devices daily. As a result, Google is already favoring mobile-friendly sites.

Based on my experience with different mobile SEO projects, I have created this detailed guide on mobile SEO. I hope it will help newcomers to mobile SEO to miss some of the key issues. Below I will spend time offering my recommendations to boost your understanding of optimizing your website for optimal user experiences across all mobile devices.

What you need to Know about Mobile SEO 

Responsive Web Design

When you use responsive web design, your mobile website will have the same HTML code and content for the same URL regardless of the user’s chosen device. You’ll use the Meta name=”viewport” tag within your site’s source course to support the Internet browser identify how they should adjust the content. Then, the display settings will change to fit every visitor’s unique screen size.

Benefits of RWD 

Responsive web design is trendy among SEO experts everywhere, and Google itself even recommends it. You should consider responsive design because:

• It’s simple to share content from a single URL.
• Google can simply index your single URL for higher search engine rankings.
• You’ll find it helpful to maintain multiple pages for the same content.
• This design avoids standard SEO and formatting mistakes.
• There won’t be much additional setup time.
• Googlebot will use fewer resources and make crawling more efficient.
• Users won’t have to deal with redirects, which offer shorter page download times.

Case of RWD for mobile device – how not to do it!

Dynamic Serving

Dynamic serving configurations are designed to have the server respond with several HTML and CSS codes on the same URL depending on the user’s device. For this, you’ll require to properly use the Vary HTTP header to signal changes based on the user-agent’s page requests. Correct headers tell the browser how to display the content and help Googlebot discover that your website has mobile-optimized content much faster.

Separate URLs

Avoiding common mistakes in mobile SEO

Don’t block Javascript, CSS, and image files 

It’s common for some developers to block some of the Javascript, CSS, and image files on their website, which is actually against Google’s guidelines. The best way is to keep all files visible to the search engine’s crawlers. You should also:

• Use ‘Fetch as Google’ through the Google Webmaster tools to guarantee your website’s CSS, Javascript, and images are entirely crawlable.
• Check robots.txt to make sure you’re not hiding any pages from Google.
• Ensure any redirects to separate URLs are functioning correctly according to each mobile device.

Optimize unplayable content

At times, video content in a desktop version can’t properly run on mobile devices, which doesn’t lend to a good user experience.

Fix faulty redirects and cross-links

As you would for your standard desktop version, carefully separate your crawl errors found in the Google webmaster tool.

Steer clear of Mobile-only 404s

Some websites serve content to desktop users but show an unsightly 404 error page for mobile users entering the same URL. Since this is awkward for mobile visitors, it’s suggested that you redirect them to an equivalent mobile page at a different URL instead. In addition, ensure your mobile-friendly page is configured correctly to avoid ever showing an error message that will turn away potential business.

Keep your site lightning fast

Use ‘Rel=Alternate Media’

Taking benefit of the ‘Rel=Alternate Media’ attribute will enable you to map your desktop and mobile URLs easily. Of course, you’ll require to add this to the desktop version of your website to specify the mobile version, but doing the opposite is never recommended.

Add the “Vary:User-Agent” HTTP Header

Whether your website redirects based on mobile device type or shows different content from dynamic serving, it’s advised that you configure your server to return the ‘Vary:User-Agent’ HTTP Header. Even if your redirects are running perfectly, this will help keep everything mobile SEO-friendly and running smoothly.

Use ‘Rel-Canonical’

Canonical tags are practiced to avoid issues with duplicated content. Adding the ‘Rel-Canonical’ tag onto your website’s mobile version will support Google in the correct index of all pages and avoid flagging any unoriginal content. This will also prevent interference by consolidating indexing and ranking signals, such as external links.

Optimize Titles and Meta Descriptions

Since mobile devices have smaller screen sizes, it’s essential to keep your website’s information as concise and meaningful as possible. Assure you follow all on-page factors like titles and meta-descriptions with keyword-rich content for the best SEO results.

Use structured data

Individuals surfing through websites on their mobile devices don’t want to wait for new windows to open. Rather, users and Google prefer fast-loading, lightweight websites that efficiently open in just a second or two. So check your average download time by the page speed tool and fix any delaying errors you find.

With the small screen size, search results with rich snippets typically get more clicks and drive higher click-through rates onto your website.

Take advantage of local searches

Thanks to GPS, local businesses tend to get the most mobile traffic that converts into desktop traffic and sales. Thus, you must optimize your website for local searches by adding your company’s name, address, phone number, and call-out actions.

Build mobile sitemaps

Last but certainly not least, build an XML sitemap for your website’s mobile version. Keep your mobile pages separate from the desktop ones to identify any indexing troubles quickly.

Benefits of Mobile-friendly designs

Overall, when you invest in giving your website a makeover with any of the three mobile SEO configurations, you can look ahead to:

• More website traffic
• Improved user experiences
• Higher conversion rates
• Increased time spent on your website
• Lower bounce rates
• Faster page loading times
• Competitive market advantages
• More customer engagement
• Improved search engine performance