SMX London 2014Mobile Search Best Practices

2

Search Powers Apps

*Apple MapsYahoo Stocks

Apple App Suite*Google Maps

GmailPandora Radio

*YouTube*Google Search

*Google PlayFacebook

0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000

Avg. Monthly Smartphone Visitors

Source: ComScore 2014 U.S. Digital Future in Focus

Search48%Other

52%

Search Apps vs. Other

86% of time on iOS and Android devices is spent on apps

3

Search Experience Optimization

• Experiential Content

• Design for Emotion

• Technical Compliance

4

Mobile is the Strategy

mad men whiskey old fashioned

Mobile Search Data and SERP Analysis

Identify In-Demand Content:• Understand your audience personas• Audit social search results for in-demand media

5Source: Google Trends

Mobile45%

Tablets12%

Laptops43%

Searches by Devices

old fashioned

6

Site Experience

Mobile User Experience

• Embrace mobile design constraints• Optimize for PageSpeed• Focus on goals and the path of least resistance

7

Mobile friendly video content.

Properly sized tap targets.

Legible font sizes.Small screen sizes and slow connections.

Source: Google PageSpeed Insights

Design for Conversion

Make it easy and fun for users to create content and complete tasks:• Minimize requirements• Use HTML5 input elements if possible• Use autocomplete, autocapitalize, autocorrect• Show completion progress where applicable• Implement client-side validation• Use top-aligned and/or in-field labels• Test forms on iOS and Android devices• Test form designs with keyboard in view• Favor new content input methods

– camera, mic, location

8

Supported Mobile Configurations

DYNAMIC SERVING

Different HTML on the same URL based on user agent

SEPARATE MOBILE URLS

Separate mobile website best hosted on a subdomain

RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN (recommended)

CSS drives the experience mostly based on screen size

9

Dynamic Serving

JavaScript agent detection generates different HTML on one URL:– Most difficult for Google to interpret– Slower than other configurations– Requires Vary: User-Agent in HTTP header

10

GET /page-1 HTTP/1.1Host: www.example.com(...rest of HTTP request headers...)

HTTP/1.1 200 OKContent-Type: text/htmlVary: User-AgentContent-Length: 5710(... rest of HTTP response headers...)

Separate Mobile Site

Hosts a mobile version of each page on a subdomain (m.example.com)– Fastest of the three configurations– Most complex setup, most maintenance, and most prone to error– Not a solution for large screens

11

Separate Mobile URLs Done Correctly

12

• A desktop search returns the desktop page

• A mobile search returns the corresponding mobile page

Responsive Web Design

• Responsive web design is the recommended configuration:– Avoids the complicated setup of a separate mobile site– Consolidates all experiences to one URL– More future-ready as new devices become mainstream

13

Selecting the Right Configuration

The primary drawback to responsive web design is load time:– RWD is the future, but is currently slow and not feature-phone compliant– A separate mobile site is the fastest and most tailored mobile experience– The future of RWD includes adaptive content and dynamic properties

14

Separate Mobile Site RWD Desktop0

5

10

15

2.81

13.5511.64

Average Load Time in Seconds

Source: High Performance Responsive Design By Tom Barker – O'Reilly Media

Mobile First Social Search Networks

Mobile first social networks are surging:• Camera content is driving traffic and engagement• Emerging networks have virtually no laptop traffic

15Source: ComScore 2014 U.S. Digital Future in Focus

99%P

INT

ER

ES

T 98%

INS

TAG

RA

M 99%

VIN

E

86%

TW

ITT

ER

Prepare for Google Now

Next generation search minimizes the need for search queries:• Improved support for natural language and question answering• Improved context and location awareness• Increased personalization around user personas

16

17

18

GLOBAL SMARTPHONE PENETRATION

SpainFrance

ItalyUK

GermanyJapan

USA

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

With Smartphones Without Smartphones

Source: ComScore MobiLens, 3 month average ending July 2013. Figures in millions.

74%59%59%70%59%

36%60%

19

MOBILE IS DAILY LIFE

use their smartphone to visit a social network every day 53%

Source: Google Our Mobile Planet: United Kingdom May 2013 – http://goo.gl/7HpOII

search on their smartphone every day54%

20

17%

ON

-TH

E-G

O

MOBILE NEVER SLEEPSA mobile user is more likely to be at home than on the go!

68%A

T H

OM

E

2%

IN A

ST

OR

E9%

AT

WO

RK

Source: Google – Creating Moments that Matter

21

MOBILE IS ROUTINE

Source: ComScore 2014 U.S. Digital Future in Focus

22

MOBILE CLOSES THE DEAL

Source: Google – Creating Moments that Matter

of mobile searches result in conversions 28%

of mobile searches trigger additional action and conversions73%

SEPARATE MOBILE URL CHECKLIST

23

Requirement DetailsSitemap Alternate: Alternate URL appears in sitemap

Page Alternate: Alternate URL appears on page via rel=“alternate” tag

Alternates Match: Alternate URLs in sitemap and on page must match exactly

Canonical Match: Mobile canonical URL must match desktop canonical and sitemap URL

Mobile Page Web Response: The mobile page should return a 302 redirect to web users

Mobile Page Web Vary: Use Vary: User-Agent in the HTTP header

Mobile Page Smartphone Response: The mobile page should return a 200 status code to smartphone users

Mobile Page Smartphone Vary: Use Vary: User-Agent in the HTTP header

Mobile Page Mobile Response: The mobile page should return a 200 status code to feature phone users

Mobile Page Mobile Vary: Use Vary: User-Agent in the HTTP header

Desktop Page Web Response: The desktop page should return a 200 status code to web users

Desktop Page Web Vary: Use Vary: User-Agent in the HTTP header

Desktop Page Smartphone Response: The desktop page should return a 302 redirect to smartphone users

Desktop Page Smartphone Vary: Use Vary: User-Agent in the HTTP header

Desktop Page Mobile Response: The desktop page should return a 302 redirect to feature phone users

Desktop Page Mobile Vary: Use Vary: User-Agent in the HTTP header

Source: http://goo.gl/ytqD55

CITED AND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Google• Mobile Search Moments Study: http://goo.gl/X6Gg7u• Mobile Path to Purchase: Five Key Findings: http://goo.gl/yT4XDH• Building Smartphone-Optimized Websites: http://goo.gl/o0pOFS• Our Mobile Planet: http://goo.gl/yTGIkY

Other• Developing Web Content for Safari: http://goo.gl/RFTh9M• Organizing Mobile: http://goo.gl/rIEuyR• Google Lays Out It’s Mobile User Experience Strategy: http://goo.gl/

WatWwS• 2014 U.S. Digital Future in Focus: http://goo.gl/KWGVM1

24