By the end of last year, 52% of all internet traffic came from mobile devices. The trend of mobile traffic majority is expected to increase each year going forward.
Most of today’s purchases originate with an online search, and that makes search engine optimization (SEO) a critical differentiation tool for businesses. On top of that, many users rely on their mobile devices to use the internet.
That's the perfect storm for mobile SEO, and any mistakes with mobile SEO you make can lead to a death spiral. So what are some of the errors you must avoid if your mobile SEO strategy is to bear the right fruit?
Keep reading for seven valuable insights you can deploy to grow your mobile traffic.
1. Not Understanding Your Users
Mobile SEO is, at the heart of it, targeted interaction with users. One of the most significant errors that can cripple your SEO, and any digital marketing strategy really, is not understanding your target audience.
Early on, you need to develop a buyer persona to help you gain in-deep insights into who your SEO is reaching.
For example, let’s say you manufacture air conditioning commercial products. If you don't know who your target audience is, you’ll end up orienting your SEO at your residential clients and wonder why the results are abysmal.
Lay the right foundation with a highly detailed buyer persona that contributes to your content development to make your SEO more effective.
2. Being Comfortable With a Slow Website
Did you know that 53% of mobile users will abandon your website if it takes more than three seconds to load? Fast loading time isn't a luxury - it’s where you gain or bleed revenue.
You need to understand that a mobile user is likely accessing your website while on the move. Other times, such users will visit your website while in the middle of other tasks.
As such, they need to empower them to access the information they are looking for quickly. Make it your goal to have every page render in not more than one second.
You can compress and resize images to reduce their file size, which speeds up your website. Checking your hosting solution to ensure you rely on the right provider for your current and predicted traffic level also helps speed things up.
3. Too Many 404s
Some websites operate such that mobile and desktop users don't access the same content. In such cases, a mobile user will run into a 404 error notification while a desktop user won’t even though they are accessing the same content.
These errors introduce friction into the mobile user experience (UX) you ship. Given the number of alternative mobile sites a user can turn to, it becomes easier for them to abandon your site.
You need to make finding 404 errors and soft 404 pages a regular part of your SEO to consistently eliminate them. Website auditing software is a vital tool that helps you eliminate broken links to rank higher in the search engine result pages (SERPs).
4. Failure to Leverage Rich Snippets
Google, as the world’s dominant search engine, is always looking to promote rich snippets. Why? When a user encounters a rich result, they receive a comprehensive answer to their question.
It’s obvious to see how relying on such results can help boost your performance on mobile search. The more click-throughs you get, the greater the organic traffic you generate, and the higher your search ranking.
You need to use Structured Data Markup or Schema to classify your website content. That will drive your click-through rate up. Consider using a Structured Data testing tool to ensure you run equivalent desktop and mobile versions.
5. An Undefined Mobile Viewport
Mobile users visit your website using a dizzying array of mobile devices. Since these devices vary in shape and size, it’s easy to find your site not running on each device correctly.
When your website can’t fit correctly on a mobile user’s device, they’ll look for an alternative. Worse yet, they’ll be wary of visiting your site while on their device in the future.
Some of the viewport issues that lead to such a problem include:
• Relying on fixed-width viewports that only work for specific devices
• Using poor viewport parameters that frustrate users on smaller devices
To resolve these issues, you can enable user scaling, so your site fits onto whatever mobile device a visitor is on. You can also use the meta viewport tag to control your page's scaling and basic dimensions.
Another nifty pro tip to avoid improper page fit on mobile devices is to use CSS media queries to style your pages for large and small screens differently.
6. Ignoring Branded Anchor Text
Getting quality backlinks is vital to your SEO. But it’s easier to focus on the link itself and overlook the role the anchor text plays in your linking.
When you use a branded anchor text, you grow your brand’s authoritativeness. Your brand receives greater recognition, which, over time, impacts your E-A-T levels. It’s not uncommon to find well-executed branded anchor texts lifting your ranking.
When you don't use branded anchor texts organically, you lose out on these critical benefits that can improve your SEO.
7. Poor Interstitials Use
Have you ever landed on a mobile site only to have a pop-up block the content you wanted to access? How many times did you choose to abandon that site instead of getting rid of the pop-up and moving on? Your users react in the same way.
Interstitials and pop up ads that introduce excess friction in the mobile UX only serve to frustrate your users. That's something that search engines notice and will penalize you for it.
While you can't - and shouldn't - ignore interstitials and pop-ups, you should deploy them such that they don’t make it unreasonably harder for users to access your content.
Steer Clear of Mistakes With Mobile SEO That Can Sink You Ship
The number of mobile internet users is rising, and your business needs to adapt to tap this traffic. Mobile SEO is vital to make your business more visible, but only when you do it right. Learn what mistakes with mobile SEO to avoid so your brand doesn't fall by the wayside. Mobile is a must now and going forward!
Are you looking to grow your business online? Mobile SEO is one of several tools you can use. Our website is a haven for entrepreneurs looking to learn more about marketing and other business-related topics.
Check out more of our SEO and web design content for insights and valuable tips to help grow your business. Read more Bootstrap Business Blog below and remember the mobile-first mentality!