"Cindy is an outstanding person as well as a web marketer. When I first met her I was impressed by the level of talent she had and her deep knowledge of mobile marketing; and that has only increased over the years. At conferences her presentations are excellent and she is very personable. I would recommend Cindy's services to anyone in the need of a great mobile marketer." July 11, 2009
Ross Dunn, CEO/Founder, StepForth Web Marketing Inc.
Archive for January, 2007
Gearing Up For Mobile Search
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Originally Posted on the WebProNews Video Blog on 01/25/07:
http://videos.webpronews.com/2007/01/25/gearing-up-for-mobile-search/
I got to do a video interview with Web Pro News. Take a look and laugh along with me. They didn’t tell me where to look, and there were multiple cameras, and tons of people walking by. I stand by what I said, but I can’t defent the weird facial expressions and wandering eyes!
Originally Posted on the WebProNews Video Blog on 01/25/07:
http://videos.webpronews.com/2007/01/25/gearing-up-for-mobile-search/
When talking about search engine optimization, one immediately associates the practices are leveraged toward the traditional realms of web search. Many are predicting, however, that the ?next big thing? in search may be the acknowledgment that users are spending less time in front of PCs, and are instead utilizing mobile devices to search and surf the web.
There are estimates floating around that put mobile users somewhere around the neighborhood of 300 million by 2010, give or take a year or two. While the prediction-based statistics may not be necessarily exact, the rising trend in mobile usage is impossible to deny.
So, as mobile users begin to depend on their devices for search, the onus then shifts squarely to webmasters and SEOs to not only gear online content to not only rank well within the sphere of traditional web search, but also to focus on streamlining page design to rank in mobile search as well.
Mobile SEO, however, may look a little different than current practices. While engines like Google have spiders that crawl the web in order to browse content, sites optimized for mobile still have to submit their pages to the engines to be included within the index.
There is also a stylistic element to consider when optimizing a site for mobile browsing. First of all, not all mobile devices employ the same browser software, so it then becomes imperative to stick to the basics of XHTML, CSS, and SEO best practices in order to ensure the cleanest viewing experience for the mobile user.
Incidentally, WebProNews had the chance to interview Cindy Krum, an SEO analyst from Blue Moon Works. She had a lot of interesting insights on mobile SEO and what the future holds for the platform, as well as elaborating a bit further on the importance of back end design practices.
Looking around, I see more and more of my friends making use of text messaging, mobile e-mail applications, and web browsers on their telephones. This trend is only going to continue, and as it does, optimizing sites for both traditional and mobile search is going to become a top priority.
Posted in General Mobile News & Tips | No Comments »
The Mobile Channel: It’s Here. Is Your Business Ready?
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Cindy Brown, Blue Moon Works, Inc., SEO
Cindy Brown, owner and CEO of the company Blue Moon Works wrote a great article that compares the mobile renderings of Denver’s major newspapers’ websites. It is a great article!Cindy Brown, Blue Moon Works, Inc., SEO
When Time Magazine cleverly placed reflective paper on it?s cover and selected ?You? as the Person of the Year, it was recognizing the explosive growth of online user generated content and social networking (what many fondly call Web 2.0). This important Web phenomenon allows individuals to make their mark in the online community without any web expertise at all ? but an even more interesting phenomenon for businesses, and one that most businesses can truly monetize, is the explosive growth of the mobile channel. Most businesses aren?t prepared, let alone aware this huge emerging opportunity to make their mark in the online community.
The mobile channel is simply Web access from mobile devices. With the growth in Internet enabled mobile devices or smartphones (Blackberries, Treos, hot Motorola Razr phones and more than 50 other brands and models), consumers are now accessing the internet through their phones more than ever. These mobile devices are affectionately referred to as the ?3rd screen? (the TV being the 1st screen and the computer being the 2nd screen). At the end of Q2 2006, there were 18.9 million smart mobile devices ? up 55% from the prior year. By the end of 2007, it is expected that 250 million Americans will have a mobile phone ? with a significant portion of the new mobile phones purchased this year being internet enabled.
Like the 1st and 2nd screen, the 3rd screen will become a vital channel for marketing and client interaction. This is true primarily because your mobile phone is always with you and it is always on. While wireless laptops are the ubiquitous tool for business professionals, the mobile phone is the ubiquitous tool for all consumers. Consumers can now gain access to information from anywhere: at home, in the car, on the Light Rail, in a plane on the runway, in the grocery store, and in the mall. Like the early days of the Internet, there is an initial set of popular applications for mobile smartphones. Besides downloading ring tones and getting video clips, mobile devices are now being used to get headline news, look up current sports? scores, check stock prices, flight times or traffic and weather conditions. Looking up a restaurant location or store address can be done while you are in the car on the way. Soon, savvy consumers will be going to price comparison sites to check the competitor?s price while shopping in the store. The use of the mobile Internet is expected to exceed current Internet usage and soon we will have to consider our ?m-commerce? strategy as part of our ?e-commerce? strategy.
Of course, there are hurdles and limitations facing this new phenomenon. Mobile phones have tiny screens, very compact keyboards, and browser display standards have not yet been established. But, as with any emerging channel or industry that succeeds, these limitations will be worked through as long as consumer and business demand continue to grow. There is already a well established industry association, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) whose global headquarters is here in Colorado. The MMA (http://www.mmaglobal.com/) is working hard to clear obstacles, establish standards and best practices, and to evangelize the mobile channel.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the global organization that develops standards for the Web, has launched the Mobile Initiative to make Web access from a mobile device as simple, easy, and convenient as Web access from a desktop device. To learn about mobile best practices, go to www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/.
What can your business do to leverage this new emerging channel? Be ready. Evaluate how your website is displayed and how easy it is to navigate on mobile devices. Determine if a visitor can easily accomplish specific tasks on your website when it is viewed on a mobile phone. If you are hoping to generate a lead, sell a product, provide a service, convey information, or encourage customer interaction with your brand, are you still able to do that when the site is viewed on a mobile device?
News is one of the most sought after forms of information in the mobile channel, so our 3 major daily newspapers should definitely begin preparing for the transition to mobile. Currently, if you try to read the headline stories in the Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, or Daily Camera on a mobile device you will find that it is do-able, but rather difficult. The Daily Camera actually does the best job of being ?mobile ready? but could still use a number of improvements. The Denver Post and especially the Rocky Mountain News face an up hill battle to keeping up with The Daily Camera and need to quickly learn how to optimize their websites for mobile access.
If your website does not display well on mobile devices, then it also probably means that your website is not easily found in one of the mobile search engines. If your website is important to your business, then it is vital that you begin optimizing your site for mobile viewing and mobile search now, or prepare to be left behind as your competitors learn to leverage the new 3rd screen.
Posted in General Mobile News & Tips | No Comments »
RSS Feeds
Feature Post
VIP: Conferences
General Mobile News & Tips
Mobile SEO
- Mobile Search Engine Submisson
- Google’s Mobile Media Search Engine
- Mobile Web Directories: Good Mobile SEO Links
VIP: Video & Audio Interviews
