You know them, you love them, and you most likely have a hard time putting them down: smartphones have permanently shifted the ways that customers and brands interact with each other on a global scale. Since the launch of the first iPhone in 2007 to the advent of lightning-fast 5G networks, smartphones have become integral to the average online browsing experience.
Although mobile-focused site optimization may feel like an antiquated concept for some marketers, the strategies and benefits associated with mobile optimization are more relevant to modern SEO practices than ever before. Far from a single component of modern SEO practices, mobile optimization is a crucial element of holistic digital marketing has shifted the paradigm for SEO in an age where multi-device consumption, emerging technologies and connected TV have risen to the forefront of the average digital consumer’s experience.
Mobile optimization hasn’t faded away. Instead, it’s taken on an important role in shaping the current state of digital marketing and SEO, molding the internet of yesteryear into the digital ecosystem that billions of people are browsing today.
How Mobile Optimization Continues to Shape Modern SEO
Mobile optimization is more than just a set of toggles that brands can turn on and off. Instead, think of it as a foundational component of the average online experience for consumers across the globe.
Much in the same way that the invention of motor vehicles influenced the layout and infrastructure of modern cities to accommodate a widespread new method of transportation, mobile browsing has impacted the ways that the modern internet has prioritized accessibility, convenience and user experience from site to site and page to page.
There is no shortage of evidence showing how the emergence of mobile browsing has shaped SEO practices and conventions over the years:
- Google’s Shift to Mobile-First Indexing: Since 2016, Google has worked to switch from a desktop-focused indexing model to one that crawls websites for ranking and indexing metrics from the perspective of mobile users. This mobile-first indexing approach is indicative of the growing prevalence of mobile browsing and underscores the search engine powerhouse’s foresight in guiding the future of search. As of last year, old and new sites alike have been crawled exclusively from a mobile-first perspective.
- Mobile’s Impact on Search Rankings: This mobile-first approach to indexing brought with it a roster of new and mobile-focused KPIs that determine a website’s ranking. While no individual mobile-focused factor can determine a page’s ranking, elements such as fast loading times and responsive designs are integral parts of Google’s ranking parameters. This isn’t particularly new, either; as early as 2015, Google has emphasized “micro moments” that lead users from their mobile devices to the beginning of their buyer’s journey.
- Accessibility as an Asset: While accessibility has been a cornerstone of effective web design for some time (and a legal requirement as per the Americans with Disabilities Act), the overlap between intuitive mobile site design and accessibility has made it easier for brands to kill two birds with one stone. Whether your target audience is made of Baby Boomers, those with visual impairments or your average smartphone user, accessible design and mobile optimization oftentimes go hand in hand.
- Shorter is Better: Mobile users oftentimes spend less time on a given website than their desktop counterparts, spending an average of 704-775 seconds per visit compared to 996-1,918 on desktops. This has led brands to lean on shorter, punchier content modalities such as videos under 30 seconds or relatively simple, engaging visuals to more effectively capture the elusive attention of mobile-based browsers. Semrush also found that the bounce rate of mobile users is close to 10% higher than that of desktop users, underscoring the importance of engaging content that can quickly capture and keep a visitor’s attention.
- QR Codes as an Offline/Online Bridge: A post-pandemic mainstay in many bars and restaurants, QR codes give customers the opportunity to jump straight into a company’s digital presence without needing to manually navigate to the site through a search engine. In this context, QR codes connect social settings to digital assets and make it easier for prospective customers to find their way to a brand’s digital home without navigating a single SERP.
While this is far from a complete list, the effects of mobile browsing on the SEO industry and undeniable and abundant. The average internet experience has evolved greatly from the days of dial-up modems and floppy disks; in this day and age, consumers expect instant and easy access to any and every website no matter their location or screen size.
For marketers, mobile optimization should be seen as an integral component of any omni-channel, holistic approach to digital marketing, not a supplement to existing SEO conventions. This may all seem obvious to seasoned digital marketing professionals, but the full progression of mobile search is far from complete. As new technologies continue to innovate, mobile browsers will continue to see these new tools and tech integrate further into their everyday online experience.
Mobile Optimization in the Era of Multi-Device Consumption
Odds are that, if you’ve got one internet-connected device, you’ve got several more nearby. Statista estimates that there is an average of 3.6 devices and internet connections per person across the globe, with North America leading the pack with 13.4 per person. As marketers, this tells us that there are more opportunities than ever to engage with users. With so many devices in play, how does mobile browsing fit into the multi-device experience and how can brands best leverage their mobile presence to take advantage of this widening field?
To start, let’s examine the interplay between mobile browsing and connected TV (CTV). The innate flexibility and audience-first marketing approach inherent to CTV means that brands can place their ads in front of their targeted audiences regardless of what program they’ve decided to watch. Just as QR codes can be used to bridge the gap between physical and digital media, mobile devices can give CTV audiences a way to quickly follow up on any CTV ad placed in front of them and delve into a brand’s digital ecosystem as quickly and easily as possible. With CTV making headway into mobile’s year over year gains, it’s important for marketers to lean into these new user habits, especially as streaming platforms introduce cheaper, ad-supported tiers to their usual offerings.
This sort of synergy can be difficult to account for, but companies have made strides in creating a diverse digital ecosystem that presents a consistent, engaging representation of their brand’s messaging. Companies like Microsoft lean into the multimodal nature of the average consumer by releasing companion apps and cloud-based game streaming capabilities on streaming platforms, ensuring that customers aren’t limited to a single device when looking to scratch their gaming itch. Similarly, YouTube’s mobile-to-display streaming capabilities allow users to transfer their video from their phones to their living rooms TVs seamlessly. YouTube has also made recent changes to video interactivity while displayed on TVs, allowing users to shrink their videos and view comments, descriptions, and related products alongside their chosen entertainment (and without having to scroll across the screen while their video plays on). These brands have made the most out of their multi-device offerings without compromising on any singular device experience, leveraging the benefits of one format or another to enhance the overall user experience.
To truly optimize a brand’s web presence, however, it’s vital to keep a high-level view of what the average browser’s experience will be regardless of the device in use. Ensuring a seamless, consistent experience across all devices can help brands develop device or platform-agnostic strategies that further streamline SEO performance while broadening reach and offering users even more avenues for engagement. Identifying the accessibility principles that read well across all devices can help refine content strategies and design considerations at both a high level and on a more granular scale, giving brands the chance to streamline their strategies or push for new projects that engage with users regardless of their chosen platform.
To this end, an in-depth understanding of mobile optimization can serve as an excellent starting point for any omni-channel improvements. While the sprawling nature of the multi-device consumer behaviors seems intimidating, the principles of accessibility engaging UX can be easily stress tested by developing your digital presence with mobile users in mind.
Stay Agile, Stay Mobile
As new technologies such as AI chatbots and increasingly complex search algorithms continue to evolve the modern digital landscape, mobile optimization has cemented itself as an integral and irreplaceable facet of contemporary SEO. Year over year, mobile users continue to eat into the desktop browsing market share thanks to the increased convenience, flexibility, and accessibility that smartphones afford the average consumer, and brands have continued to lean into mobile-centric optimization opportunities to draw in wider audiences and streamline their messaging.
To better anticipate the direction in which mobile and multi-device users continue to push the marketing industry, brands need to understand how SEO conventions have shifted to more effectively accommodate mobile-centric consumers and how mobile optimization strategies can be applied to engage with multi-device consumers.
At Lever, we take pride in perfecting omni-channel marketing solutions for clients across a broad variety of industries. To find out what mobile optimization opportunities your company would benefit from, reach out to our team of digital marketing professionals at leverinteractive.com/contact.