Over two years ago, in May 2015, Google officially announced that most inquiries through their search engine came from mobile devices. This year, this gap became even greater as Android surpassed Windows as the number one web-browsing OS. Even though statisticians and digital marketers expected both of these things to happen eventually, common users from just a decade ago probably never expected to see this happen in their lifetime. However, what kind of difference does this make for digital marketers? More importantly – how is the increased mobile app usage changing the landscape of SEO? Let’s find out!
- The importance of app optimization
The first thing you need to know about this topic is that an average person spends about 85 percent of their smartphone time on apps. This is roughly somewhere over 2 hours each day. Still, not every app receives the equal portion of this time, seeing as how industry powerhouses like Facebook, Google, Instagram or Viber dominate this area. Nonetheless, making an app definitely increases your chance of getting noticed but for this, you would have to pay a fair share of time coming up with great keywords, titles and tags. Aside from this, the key to keeping your audience alert of your presence would have to rely on a great notification. As you can see, there is significant work ahead of you.
- The evolution of SEO
There are some who claim that the ever-growing popularity of mobile apps might put the world of SEO on the verge of disappearance as a whole, however, things are not nearly as simple. Sure, mobile users are more inclined to go directly to an app than through a default search engine, still, this only covers the B2C aspect of a business. What about B2B? Well, the truth is that the world of B2B heavily relies on both SEO and SEM, which means that these forms of digital marketing aren’t becoming obscure anytime soon. On the other hand, according to SEO Experts from GWM, this will put a heavier emphasis on creating hand-tailored strategies for your business, instead of looking for one-size-fits-all solutions.
- Voice search optimization
Another thing that everyone in the SEO industry has noticed by now is the fact that voice search optimization is quickly coming to the forefront of Google’s interests. Due to the fact that desktop PC setups have a wide array of microphone options, models, qualities and brands, it would be incredibly difficult to regulate this effort. Luckily, on mobile devices, the microphones are much more standardized, which allows the unparalleled precision in this field. In fact, nowadays, Google is able to rely on previous search history and the location of the user in order to give this verbal inquiry a broader context. In this way, it can provide one with much more accurate results.
- Google Now On Tap
Finally, if there is one thing we can deduct from the entire history of mobile devices it is that user-friendliness always triumphs. Faced with the growing popularity of apps, Google has devised the incredible Google Now On Tap, which allows users to do an app-based inquiry without ever leaving the app. Needless to say, this is something that could potentially revolutionize the SEO industry, a thing that most SEO experts will have to prepare for accordingly.
In conclusion
While every change creates new doomsayers of their own, it seems quite unlikely that the SEO will diminish in importance anytime soon. Same as any other form of digital marketing (email marketing, content marketing, social media marketing, etc.) it will simply have to adapt to mobile. The above-listed four examples are just some of the possible directions SEO might take in the future, in the light of present data and circumstances.
About the Author:
Ronald was a law student who turned rogue and now works as a business consultant at a small Australian company, Media Gurus and he is also a freelance writer. In his free time, he enjoys playing pool, reading a good book or just being outdoors with his dogs.