TRAFFIC
and rely on Google Suggest. On average,
searches via handset are 25 percent
shorter than desktop search.
Tablets
Tablets are seen as more of a leisure device,
with many users shopping on their tablets
whilst watching television. More users visit
retail and automotive sites through tablet
search, a higher number of pages visited
in e-commerce sites are from a tablet,
and tablet visitors are more valuable for
retail clients than Smartphone visitors.
Tablet visitors spend 50 percent more than
Smartphone visitors and 20 percent more
than desktop searchers.
●●
Finger, thumbs and screen size
Users on tablets use double thumbs,
although many users can still find typing
on a tablet more difficult than typing on
a Smartphone due to it being heavier and
cumbersome to hold. Holding with both
hands and typing with thumbs can make
it difficult to reach certain keys.
●●
Search queries
As to be expected – because a tablet is
larger – we do witness search queries
being longer in length compared to
mobile. In addition, the environment
the tablet user is in usually means they
are in less of a rush. Typing is still more
difficult than on a desktop, but with
the use of styluses and Google Suggest,
tablet users are able to type more
complicated queries and be more specific
in their search style.
Reporting
Figures do not lie. If you have not set
up custom reports in your tracking, you
really need to by using filters in Google
Webmaster Tools. If you have a responsive
or dynamic website offering for mobile
and/or tablets, then you will need to set up
custom reporting for each.
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The mobile default setting in Google
Analytics includes tablets, which means
that you will need to set up a custom
segment. You can easily import segment
configurations such as ‘mobile – no iPad’
into your profile. Take a very good look at
user behaviour. If a large chunk of visitors
is dropping off at a certain section of your
site, ask yourself why.
Take a look at the site on your mobile
and tablet and ask whether they are
getting what they are searching for;
and if not, provide it.
Site search
As mentioned in the best practice section,
well optimised mobile sites will invariably
utilise a search feature. This helps to avoid
the pitfalls of frustration when a visitor
to your website cannot find what they
are looking for.
Don’t overlook the additional insight
you can gain by enabling site search in
Google Analytics – this is easy to set up and
provides a whole extra layer of insight into
user behaviour.
Take a look at the top searches and be
objective – is it easy to find? Are the results
even relevant to the search? If not, make
the objective readily available.
Contact information
It is important to remember that mobile
users search with intent and they want
information fast. It is important to ensure
that contact information, including
telephone numbers, email addresses,
physical location and maps are readily
available. Take a look at your mobile
site and check that this information
is easy to find.
Google Suggest
Remember that it is more difficult
to type on a handset and many searchers
mGAMING
opt for a suggestion provided – take
a look at the most popular
recommendations and ensure they
are applied in your strategy.
Common mistakes
●●
Avoid
the use of Flash: you may
be surprised at how often this is
forgotten. Flash will not work on certain
Smartphones and Google cannot
crawl it.
●●
Don’t send all of your users to the
homepage. Remember, we are trying
to avoid frustration. If your visitor has
typed in a very specific search query
and has found a listing for your specific
detailed desktop page only to be sent to a
homepage, they will not be best pleased.
●●
Mentioned before, but worth repeating:
site speed is so important. If your site
is slow to load, your visitors will not
wait. Analyse the site speed section in
Behaviour within Google Analytics.
●●
Do not force mobile users to view the
mobile site; not everyone likes them.
Many handsets have large enough
screens now that can handle optimum
viewing of the full site which may have
more information that the users needs.
●●
Do not present your mobile site to
tablet searchers. This may sound like a
straightforward recommendation, but
you will be surprised at how many
times this is witnessed.
Janet Plumpton is
SEO Strategist at Latitude
Digital Marketing. Janet’s SEO
experience reaches over three
years. Before joining Latitude as a
SEO Executive, she worked as an SEO
Consultant for Pagehog. Janet was
promoted SEO Strategist in 2012 and is
a key contributor to Latitude’s quarterly
Mobile Report.