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 Strategy
for Small Businesses
BRIDGET RANDOLPH
SME MOBILE STRATEGIES 2014

2. mobile is
HUGE.
Image Source

3. by 2017,
85%
of the world’s population
will have 3G coverage.
@BridgetRandolphSource: Ericsson Mobility Report

4. internet.org initiative from Facebook

5. @BridgetRandolphSource: Cisco's Global Mobile Data Traffic
Forecast Update
internet in
year 2000
mobile
data
in 2012
mobile data usage in 2012
was
12xthe size of
the entire internet
in 2000

6. @BridgetRandolphSource: Ericsson Mobility Report (pg. 10)

7. we’ll be more
connected
than ever
@BridgetRandolph

8. you'll reach
peopleyou can't reach any other way.
@BridgetRandolph

9. a multiscreen,
device-agnostic
world.
@BridgetRandolph

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

11. %
of smartphone users have
researched a product or
service on their phone.
Source: Google Databoard

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

13. so businesses need to be
mobile-friendly.

14. mobile
can’t just be
an add-on anymore.
@BridgetRandolph

15. the
problemis,

16. people are doing it
WRONG.

17. even bigbrands
mess up…

18. Forbes – interstitial ads

19. …and my personal favourite:

20. Starbucks – lost CTA

22. Starbucks – lost CTA
(they’ve fixed it now.)

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

24. Apple – no mobile website

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

26. Image Source

27. 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.

28. 2 reasons.

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

30. 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

31. so it seems more likely that…

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

33. that’s where I come in.

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

35. Mobile Strategy
for Small Businesses
BRIDGET RANDOLPH

36. Getting Started
with
Mobile

37. 1
•Mobile Friendly Website
2
•Search and Discovery
3
•Reaching Your Customers
Where they Are

38. Step 1
Mobile-Friendly
Website

39. 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

40. 3 main
approaches

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

42. choosean approach
based on

43. your goals
and technical
capabilities

44. your
users’ needs.

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

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

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

48. and a
CMS
(like Wordpress).

49. 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.

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

51. Simples!
Image Source

52. but I can’t afford that.

53. well,

54. if you do
NOTHING
else,

55. Facebook.

56. Google+.

57. because they’re already
mobile-friendly.

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

59. final
point to
remember:

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

61. it’s just the
starting point.

63. Step 2
Search and
Discovery

64. how people
your website.

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

66. 1) mobile SEO

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

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

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

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

71. 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

72. 2) local search

73. 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

74. Desktop result for ‘plumber’ search in London

75. Mobile result for ‘plumber’ search in London

76. there are
several factors
for local search rankings

77. on-page optimization for location

78. local listings
- Google My Business
- other relevant local business directories
- Yahoo! Local
- Bing Local
- Yelp
- Merchant Circle
- Angie’s List
- Judy’s Book
- Kudzu

79. Google My Business
Small Business Guide to Google My Business

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

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

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

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

84. images
storefront and product

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

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

87. reviews and recommendations
- Yelp
- Google My Business
- TripAdvisor
- Yahoo! Local
- Foursquare
- Zagat (for restaurants)

88. 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

89. Does it work?

90. case study – Coffee Corner

91. 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

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

93. 3) social media

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

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

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

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

98. …if you do it right.

99. and social is not just a part of
the discoveryprocess.
@BridgetRandolph

100. a great channel
for maintaining
customer
loyalty.
@BridgetRandolph

101. first,
you need to
remember:

102. it’s about
conversation,
not
broadcast.

104. use the
‘dinner party’
test.

105. and have a content plan.

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

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

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

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

110. now what?

111. now the fun part:

112. Step 3: Reaching Out

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

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

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

116. 1) apps

117. do I need an app?

118. Apple Store: 900,000+ apps
Google Play: 1,000,000+ apps
@BridgetRandolphSource

119. 7 iPhone apps earned
10% of
app store revenue
for iPhone
@BridgetRandolphSource

120. benefit:
it’s a walled garden.
@BridgetRandolph

121. are you
sure
you need one?
@BridgetRandolph

122. probably not.

123. small steps:
ask yourself, does my app:
@BridgetRandolph
5 questions based on ‘For Mobile Devices,
Think Apps, Not Ads’, HBR Mar 2013

124. add
convenience?
@BridgetRandolph
ask yourself, does my app:

125. offer unique value?
@BridgetRandolph
ask yourself, does my app:

126. provide social value?
@BridgetRandolph
ask yourself, does my app:

127. offer incentives?
@BridgetRandolph
ask yourself, does my app:

128. entertain?
@BridgetRandolph
ask yourself, does my app:

129. if not,
you probably
shouldn’t build it.
@BridgetRandolph
ask yourself, does my app:

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

131. it may be worth
investing in an
app.

132. 2 types of app:

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

134. 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

135. 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

136. And of course, AppsBuilder!
- from €9/month

137. 2) exclusive
mobile content

138. some ideas:

139. - loyalty app

140. - push notifications with
geotargeting

141. related to

142. - exclusive offers
for mobile visitors

143. are you sure
you need an app?

144. because
if you want an
easy
hack…

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

146. added benefit:
online visibility
and
social proof

147. speaking of Facebook
and Foursquare…

148. bonus tip:
social media
competitions

149. 3) emails

150. 62% of e-mails are
opened on mobile devices.
@BridgetRandolph
Source: US Consumer Device Preference
Report (Q2 2013)

151. email marketing
IS
mobile marketing.
@BridgetRandolph

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

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

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

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

156. and finally…

157. bonus
tip:

158. 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

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

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

161. you might decide to do ALL the things.

162. or not.

163. but no matter your
individual needs…

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

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

166. Source: Mobile Growth Stats 2013

167. you
a mobile strategy.

168. start with a
mobile-friendly
website.

169. and
build upfrom there.

170. it’s
than you think!

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

172. Why Mobile’s Important
2012 KPCB internet trends update
Google Think Insights report
Google Databoard
Full Value of Mobile calculator
The Mobile Playbook
Our Mobile Planet
Global Mobile Stats 2013
Ericsson Mobility Report 2013
Building a Mobile Site
Mobile Web Design Tips
Distilled’s best practice guide
Designing for SEO
Understanding Your Mobile Visitors
Google Analytics for Mobile
Mobile SEO
Keyword Research for mobile
Responsive SEO Tune-up
Optimizing your local presence for
mobile Mobile SEO Audit
Optimizing a separate mobile site
SEO of Responsive Web Design
Impact of Google Smartphone
Crawler 1
Impact of Google Smartphone
Crawler 2
Impact of Google Smartphone
Crawler 3
Google’s mobile development
guidelines
Google blog - mobile and ranking
factors
Thinking More About Mobile
‘What is “Mobile”?’
Mobile Strategy for Small Businesses
@BridgetRandolph