Mobile Marketing: How To Market Your Mobile Website

We’re nearing the end of the series about Mobile Web Development, Optimization and Marketing. On the previous posts, we discussed the four (4) different ways to reach your mobile consumer and analyzed their pros and cons. Last time, we introduced optimization techniques on how to make your existing website mobile-friendly. On this fifth installment, learn the basics of SEO and marketing strategies should you choose to have a separate site intended for mobile consumers.

Mobile Website Defined.

This is the second copy of your main site. Your visitors are directed to it if they’re using a handheld or tablet device. It displays only pertinent information and is designed with larger navigation and special features like click-to-call functions all aimed to give your audience the best mobile user experience.

Mobile Website and SEO.

As users hate to scroll through a page when they’re using their smartphones, it is extremely important to be on the top of the list should a prospective mobile client decide to search for a certain service your company happens to offer. Thus, here are three (3) simple tips to help you rank better on mobile search engines.

·         Onpage. Similar to web, optimize your title, meta and tags with the right keywords. During keyword research, consider the behavior of mobile users as they totally differ from the web users – factor such as the earlier tends to type fewer words than the latter.

·         Mobile Standards. Just like your usual Googlebot task, it indexes the XHTML and CSS files of your mobile website. Make sure that you upload the correct copy accordingly.

·         Redirection and Sitemap. Test to see if redirection works properly in different gadgets. You wouldn’t want to lose a potential buyer by merely failing to direct them to the right version of your website. Add a mobile sitemap for mobile robots.

Mobile Website and Marketing.

Modifying your site to increase ranking on mobile search engines isn’t enough. What about the people who use local directories to look for a recommended restaurant or dry cleaning shop near the area. Then enters marketing. Below are ideas on how to approach this type of crowd:

·         Online coupons. Mobile people most often than not prefers local. Hence, if your firm is located in the country, have a webdesign professional in the Philippines create online coupons to generate sales for your business. This is a great opportunity to maximize purchases that can be done in impulse.

·         Listings. If you’re a local resto that offers exotic Pinoy cuisine, have an SEO company in the Philippines submit your listing to a local food directory. In this way, you can get leads that are targeted according to your niche.

·         Reviews. Have your satisfied customers write a review for you. Let the word about your excellent products and services go out.

·         Social Media Promotions. Utilize the social media hype. Add your business in Foursquare for better visibility. Reward regulars with freebies for frequently checking in.

·         QR Codes. Your customer can reach your website by simply scanning your QR codes found online and on print. So remember include this in your marketing plans as well.  

Next up is how to market your mobile app.

Mobile Web Development: Mobile Site vs Mobile App

MobileWeb Usage Statistics.

based on Westminster eForum, March 2012 and Pew Research Center

• A sale coming from mobile phones on eBay comes every 2 seconds.
• Smartphone sales have become bigger than PC sales.
• Tablet sales are expected to exceed 100 million by the end of the year.
• 28% of Internet usage comes from a mobile phone.
• 86% of adults own a cellphone and 53% use it to access the Internet.

With the above stats, are you and your business prepared for the explosion of the mobile web? In this series, we already tackled four (4) ways to reach your mobileconsumers as well as the advantagesof Responsive Design over Mobile website (and vice versa). On this post, let’s see which between the two, by going through their features, would be the best solution to your business needs – would it be a mobile website or a mobile application?

When to use a Mobile Website.

As mobile websites were strategically designed for smartphones and not desktop PCs, they have been made efficient to show only the most relevant information compared to the full web version. Thus, they are mainly the effective choice if Analytics show that majority of the visits come from mobile devices.

When to use Mobile Apps.

Since mobile applications are stand-alone software aimed for a specific purpose, they normally direct the people to their own compact form of a browser for additional details. The apps then get the content from its server so that the downloader can retrieve it anytime. They are the best option if the target audience uses a tool regularly (like Evernote).

Here are ten (10) more factors that illustrate how they differ from each other.

1.      Ease of Access

·         Mobile site: may be accessed only when online

·         Mobile apps: may be accessed even when offline

2.      Availability of Content

·         Mobile site: instantly available since content may be viewed via browser

·         Mobile apps: available only after apps has been downloaded from the marketplace and installed on the gadget

3.      Ability to be searchable

·         Mobile site: easier to find because search engines have a distinct mobile search index similar to web’s

·         Mobile apps: harder to find as it all depends if the apps exists on the app store of manufacturer

4.      Ability to be shareable

·         Mobile site: easy to share, it takes only one click. It’s like sharing a regular web link, only it’s done on mobile

·         Mobile app: harder to share as the person either has to go to the marketplace first or download another app to enable sharing

5.      Compatibility

·         Mobile site: compatible to all device types – smartphones, tablets

·         Mobile apps: solely depends on the device. There are apps that might work on Apple but wouldn’t work on Android or Blackberry

6.      Integration Feature.

·         Mobile site: can integrate with existing technologies such as QR codes or SMS

·         Mobile apps: can integrate in terms of built-in features like camera or processing power

7.      Administrative User Control and Permission

·         Mobile site: the user has no authorization to the site except to “Read”. Complete control goes to the webmaster

·         Mobile apps: the user has the absolute authority to do anything he likes with the app. He can run it, retain or opt to delete it. He has “Read, Write and Execute” permission.

8.      Update and Maintenance

·         Mobile site: easy to update and maintain on the developers end. If the site is local and the layout needs to be changed, a web design expert in the Philippines can effortlessly do the work.

·         Mobile apps: hard to update and maintain due to its long procedure to do so. If the app is locally-made, the assigned iOS developer in the Philippines, will initially perform the update and compatibility debugging. Once tested, he will upload it along with documentation about the latest revision. The user will then transfer and install the newest copy on his phone.

9.      Cost and Affordability

·         Mobile site: more affordable due to updates and maintenance

·         Mobile apps: less affordable for the same reason

10.  Best suited for:

·         Mobile site: Ecommerce websites. The simple step-by-step instructions will guide prospective buyer to a simpler process of purchase

·         Mobile app: Interactive games

On the next post, discover techniques on how to optimize your current site tomake it mobile-friendly.