Optimising Websites for Mobile Search

Since the birth of 3G mobile phones equipped with high-end GPRS, EDGE and WAP technologies, the use of the internet via a mobile phone has soared. Search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN all have mobile ready websites as do a number of other major websites.

If your site is not mobile phone compliant or if your site is not optimised for the mobile search engines, then you’re probably loosing out on a share of the mobile market who are looking for your product whilst on the move.

Mobile Phone Compliant Website Tips

• Use XHTML instead of normal HTML.
• Avoid code redundancy to cut down on the page downloading time.
• Use external CSS to save on the downloading time and also ensure proper page display on different mobile phone screen resolutions.
• Organise and name navigation buttons clearly.
• Use simple text links instead of buttons or images for the main navigation.
• Have a sitemap for your website.
• Make sure that the navigation panel remains below the main content so that the main content is the first thing that is visible when the users switch pages.
• Use jump links for the mobile version of your website to enable quick "jumps" to content, avoiding the need for the user to scroll down the page.

Mobile Search Optimisation Tips

• Adhere to the basic SEO best practices and avoid flash, pop-ups and frames.
• Optimise your site for 2-3 short keyword phrases. It has been seen that 2-3 words are the average number of search phrases used on a mobile phone.
• Avoid the use of embedded objects like images and scripts since they tend to make pages take much longer to download.
• Test your site on various mobile phone models, including PDAs to check whether the site is compatible with a large spectrum of mobile phone devices.
• Validate your site with mobile code checkers (W3C Mobile and Mobi Ready)
• Strive to get links from other related mobile sites and mobile directories.

Following the above steps will ensure that you not only have a mobile compliant website ready but that it can also be easily found through mobile searches. Fluid Creativity can help you design and build a mobile ready website to give users access to your products whilst on the move. Contact us today to discuss SEO services

More about SEO and Search Engines

• Elements of Search Engine Optimisation
• Why choose Fluid for your Corporate SEO?
• SEO Consultations
• Ongoing SEO Campaigns
• SEO Glossary
• SEO Manchester
• Choosing an SEO Agency
• Do I Need SEO?
• Google, MSN and Yahoo! – Who’s the greatest?
• Search Engines - A look at the main players
• Optimising Websites for Mobile Search
• Google No-No's!