For a small business on a tight budget, a mobile strategy may seem like a costly extra. But with 40% of mobile searches showing local intent, you can't afford to miss out! This presentation will cover why SMEs should care about mobile, and what they can do about it (even on a small business budget).

1. mobile is
HUGE.
Image Source

2. Source: Cisco's Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update
internet in
year 2000
mobile
in
2012
mobile in 2012 was
12xthe size of
theentire internet
in 2000

3. of UK consumers have made a purchase
using their mobile device.
Source: Econsultancy

4. %
of smartphone users have
researched a product or
service on their phone.
Source: Google Databoard

5. about
then purchased the item
in-store.
Source: Google Databoard

6. so businesses need to be
mobile-friendly.

7. the
problemis,

8. people are doing it
WRONG.

9. even bigbrands…

10. Forbes – interstitial ads

11. NY Times – no automatic redirects

12. Starbucks – lost CTA

14. …or worse, they
don’t do
anything.
60% of small businesses have websites;
only half of these are mobile-friendly.

15. Apple – no mobile website

16. of
the top 20 UK retailers
have a mobile-friendly website.
Source: Econsultancy
only

17. Image Source

18. small businesses
are even
less likelyto have a mobile-friendly web presence.
60% of small businesses have websites;
only half of these are mobile-friendly.

19. 2 reasons.

20. they don’t see the
.
71% of smartphone owners have researched a
product on their device which they later bought.

21. but it’s
easy enough
to show the
valueof mobile marketing.
84% of small businesses saw an increase in new
business due to mobile marketing efforts

22. so it seems more likely that…

23. …they just
don’t know
where to start.

24. that’s where I come in.

25. BRIDGET RANDOLPH
SEO Consultant, Distilled
bridget.randolph@distilled.net
@BridgetRandolph

26. Mobile Strategy
for Small Businesses
BRIDGET RANDOLPH

27. Getting Started
with
Mobile

28. 1
•Mobile Friendly Website
2
•Search and Discovery
3
•Reaching Your Customers
Where they Are

29. Step 1
Mobile-Friendly
Website

30. where your online
customers
primarily
interact with you.
61% of mobile users who land on a non-mobile-
friendly site are likely to go to a competitor's site

31. 3 main
approaches

32. • responsive
– rearranges the layout
• dynamic serving
– serves different HTML on same URL
• separate mobile subdomain
– e.g. m.domain.com

33. choosean approach
based on

34. your goals
and technical
capabilities

35. your
users’ needs.

36. (we did a flowchart for our Best Practice Guide)
www.distilled.net/training/mobile-seo-guide

37. but for a
small business
with a
small website…

38. …I’d usually recommend using
a responsive
template,

39. and a
CMS
(like Wordpress).

40. individual Wordpress themes
• Designfolio (from PressCoders): free, or $79 with support
licence.
• Standard: $49 or $99 with support licence.
• Responsive (from CyberChimps): free.
premium Wordpress theme providers
• Elegant Themes: ~$40/year with full support.
• WooThemes: free-$70.

41. or, if you don’t want to use Wordpress:
• SquareSpace: from $8/month (for the most basic service).
• Wix: around $10/month.

42. Simples!
Image Source

43. but I can’t afford that.

44. well,

45. if you do
NOTHING
else,

46. Facebook.

47. Google+.

48. because they’re already
mobile-friendly.

49. and
start saving up
for a
mobile-
friendly
website!
Image Source

50. final
point to
remember:

51. a mobile-friendly
website is
NOT
a strategy.

52. it’s just the
starting point.

53. Step 2
Search and
Discovery

54. how people
your website.

55. 1.mobile SEO
2.local search
3.social media

56. 1) mobile SEO

57. responsive design?
SEO of Responsive Design by Kristina Kledzik

58. You don’t need to do
anything extra.

59. what if I can’t use a
responsive design?

60. dynamic serving
Vary HTTP header http://goo.gl/km1qcZ
Up to 73% of mobile local keyword rankings
differed from their desktop counterparts

61. separate URLs
There are
several areas
to look at.
I wrote a whole post on Moz about it.
http://moz.com/blog/how-to-optimize-a-mobile-site
A Checklist for Optimizing Your Mobile Site

62. 2) local search

63. any business with a
physical location
and/or
location-based
service area.
94% of smartphone users have looked for local
info and 84% have taken action as a result

64. Desktop result for ‘plumber’ search in London

65. Mobile result for ‘plumber’ search in London

66. there are
several factors
for local search rankings

67. on-page optimization for location

68. local listings
- Google+ Local (within Google Places for Business)
- other relevant local business directories
- Yahoo! Local
- Bing Local
- Yelp
- Merchant Circle
- Angie’s List
- Judy’s Book
- Kudzu

69. Google+ Local ≠ Google+

70. this is a Google+ Local page

71. this is a Google+ profile page

72. you need
both
and you should
mergethem.

73. local linkbuilding
(e.g. local news sites, government sites, blogs, etc.)

74. “NAP” citations
(like links for local SEO)
• Name
• Address
• Phone number

75. consistency
signal to Google that they all
refer to the same business

76. protip:
use Whitespark’s
Local Citation Finder tool
- from $20/month

77. images
storefront and product

78. structured data
- Schema.org: /Place and /LocalBusiness
- hCard markup
- KML file for GoogleMaps

79. social profiles
- Google+
- Facebook
24% of local search via apps happens on
Facebook’s mobile app

80. reviews and recommendations
- Yelp
- Google+ Local
- TripAdvisor
- Yahoo! Local
- Foursquare
- Zagat (for restaurants)

81. for a great local SEO resource,
check out David Mihm’s report on
Local Search Ranking Factors 2013
http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors

82. Does it work?

83. case study – Coffee Corner

84. We managed to get them to
the top of page 1 within 6
weeks, which took their
search traffic from 100 to just
under 300 visitors per month
Gareth Brown, founder of Target Local

85. They’re also seeing visitors
coming from their Yelp
profile.

86. 3) social media

87. we’ve
already seen that
socialis important
for local SEO.

88. but it’s also a
marketing
channel
in its own right.

89. out of every 5
people who
use Facebook daily access it on a
mobile device.

90. social media is a good way
for your mobile visitors to
find and
interactwith you…

91. …if you do it right.

92. first,
you need to
remember:

93. it’s about
conversation,
not
broadcast.

95. use the
‘dinner party’
test.

96. and have a content plan.

97. this is all just basic
social media
best practice.

98. mobile-social
protip:
make sure that the
content you share
is mobile-friendly.

99. so you’ve got a
mobile-friendly website.

100. and you’ve made it
easy for mobile users
to find you.

101. now what?

102. now the fun part:

103. Step 3: Reaching Out

104. in this phase,
you can reach out
to your customers
where they are,

105. instead of
waiting for them
to come to you.

106. you can bypass
the search process altogether with
- apps
- exclusive mobile content
- emails

107. 1) apps

108. do I need an app?

109. probably not.

110. but if your business model relies on
frequent
return visits,

111. it may be worth
investing in an
app.

112. 2 types of app:

113. 1. native app (iOS, Android, etc)
2. web app (HTML5)

114. Apple's App Store contains ~775,000 apps
native app web app
pros
• faster performance
• more specific functionality
• app store support
cons
• ££££
• high-maintenance
• approval process longer
pros
• cheaper
• easier to maintain
cons
• one-size-fits-all
• can’t be accessed offline
• no app store support

115. some tools to help you build an app:
- Bizness Apps: from $59/month (native apps)
- ViziApps: starts from £29/month (web app) or
£99/month for (native app)
- AppMakr: free native Android app (with ads), or for
$9/month native iPhone and Android apps (no ads).
- Premium option: $99 one-time fee for white-label
version.
- RedFoundry: contact for a quote
These tools were featured on Mashable

116. 2) exclusive
mobile content

117. some ideas:

118. - loyalty app

119. - push notifications with
geotargeting

120. related to

121. - exclusive offers
for mobile visitors

122. are you sure
you need an app?

123. because
if you want an
easy
hack…

124. - check-in and
coupon services
Foursquare, Facebook, Groupon.

125. added benefit:
online visibility
and
social proof

126. speaking of Facebook
and Foursquare…

127. bonus tip:
social media
competitions

128. 3) emails

129. if you do email marketing,
make sure you’re using

130. mobile-friendly
email templates.
79% of smartphone owners use their
smartphone for reading email

131. email providers
with mobile-friendly templates
• MailChimp: from ~$10/month
• Campaign Monitor: from $10/month or
$5/campaign

132. if you don’t want to use their full service,
you can simply use them to
build your email
and
export the HTML.

133. and finally…

134. bonus
tip:

135. provide
in-store wifi
and collect customer data
such as email addresses or
(quick!) survey answers.
Half of the smartphone users who researched a product
on their phone later purchased the item in-store

136. this doesn’t have to be scary…
Image Source

137. in fact, it’s
really easy!
MyPlaceConnect provides a service
to set this up for you - from €25/month

138. you might decide to do ALL the things.

139. or not.

140. but no matter your
individual needs…

141. …there are a
few important
things to remember.

142. mobile is
HUGE.
Mobile commerce accounts for 23% of online sales

143. Source: Mobile Growth Stats 2013

144. you
a mobile strategy.

145. start with a
mobile-friendly
website.

146. and
build upfrom there.

147. it’s
than you think!

148. So get started now!
THANK YOU
bridget.randolph@distilled.net
@BridgetRandolph