The Changing Landscape of Mobile Search - LearnInbound Dublin - April 2016

A brief jaunt down memory lane

2000-2012:

total internet usage vs mobile data usage

12x

Source

2013’s big question:

“What should my mobile strategy be?”

What does this mean for mobile search?

And sure enough, in 2016...

And sure enough, in 2016...

Mobile has become the preferred way to browse the web.

We used to talk about mobile being used “on the go”, and desktop for “work” and “home”.

Now we recognize that mobile is used in all different environments and contexts, and often simultaneously with other devices.

We used to talk about whether you needed an app, and how it was differentiated from your web content.

Now we talk about app indexation.

We used to talk about whether you needed an app, and how it was differentiated from your web content.

Now we talk about app indexation.

We used to talk about how to prevent showrooming.

...that ship has sailed.

welcome to...

The Changing Landscape of Mobile Search

Bridget Randolph

Proof: the story from the stats. Ben Evans.

It wasn’t always like this.

2015

2020It’s because

this happened

2008

Source

now,

52% of UK internet users say that

mobile is their primary way to access the web.

up from only

24% in 2013.

Ben Evans, 2015

“It’s actually the PC that has the limited, basic, cut-down version of the internet...it only has the

web.”

It can take photos

It knows where it isIt can take

photos

It knows where it is

It knows who your friends are

It can take photos

It knows if you are walking, running, etc

It knows where it is

It knows who your friends are

It can take photos

It interacts with the world (beacons, pay, NFC)

It’s personal, signed-in, and taken everywhere It

interacts with the world (beacons, pay, NFC)

It’s personal, signed-in, and taken everywhere

It has natural multi-touch

It interacts with the world (beacons, pay, NFC)

It has notifications

It has natural multi-touchIt’s personal, signed-in, and taken everywhere It

interacts with the world (beacons, pay, NFC)

User Behaviour

Technological Advances

Ranking Factors

(Google)Search

MarketingThe Adaption Waterfall

User Behaviour

Technological Advances

Ranking Factors

(Google)Search

Marketing

Better UX

The Adaption Waterfall

4 key shifts

Mobile Friendlines

s as a Ranking Factor

Site Speed and

Page Load Times

App Integratio

n with Web

Search

Mobile First

Design of SERPs

#1

Mobile Friendliness as a Ranking Factor

Site Speed and

Page Load Times

App Integratio

n with Web

Search

Mobile First

Design of SERPs

Mobile Friendliness(we have to do something about poorly optimized mobile

experiences)

Google now provides all sorts of tools in Search Console and elsewhere to test mobile friendliness.

Some sites lost as much as

35% of top 3 rankings

within the first month after the update.Source

2 months on,

81%+ of the top 3 results are mobile friendly.

Google also announced a

5% increase in the number of mobile-friendly websites, within the 2 months between their announcement about the update and “Mobilegeddon”. Source

First step: make sure your site passes the basic mobile-friendliness tests.• Mobile Friendly Testing Tool • Search Console Reports• Separate tab on the Pagespeed Insights toolTool Tip: use URL Profiler to check URLs in bulk.

TAKE ACTION

Mobile Friendlines

s as a Ranking Factor

Site Speed and Page Load Times

App Integratio

n with Web

Search

Mobile First

Design of SERPs

#2

Mobile Site Speed and Page Load Times

(we have to do something about on-page user experience)

Facebook Facebook Instant Articles

Apple Apple Newsstand

Native Apps

AMP is a set of rules for developing webpages which guarantees speed and forces distribution.

It’s basically skeleton HTML which allows the page to...

a)load really quicklyb)be cached by

Google and served directly in the SERP

www.wsj.com/article-headline

www.wsj.com/amp/article-headline

https://amp.gstatic.com/v/s/www.wsj.com/amp/article-headline

First step: decide whether AMP is relevant to you.

You should use AMP if:

• Google News is an important traffic source for you

• You make a lot of content, particularly editorial content

• You want wider distribution of your content• You have a high proportion of mobile traffic

TAKE ACTION

Mobile Friendlines

s as a Ranking Factor

Site Speed and

Page Load Times

App Integratio

n with Web

Search

Mobile First

Design of SERPs

#3

Making Desktop Search More Like Mobile Search

(we have to do something about consistency of experience)

“Card” style format

The old “Google”

The new “Google”

No more sidebar ads

First step(s):

- Account for it in your reporting and tracking

- Consider creating more top-of-funnel landing pages

TAKE ACTION

Mobile Friendlines

s as a Ranking Factor

Site Speed and

Page Load Times

App Integration with

Web Search

Mobile First

Design of SERPs

#4

App Integration(we have to do something about “walled garden” app content)

Google needs to integrate app content

with the rest of the web

(or they risk becoming irrelevant)

app indexation.

If you don’t have an app, you may not need one. Ask yourself:

Would my app... • Add convenience?• Offer unique value?• Provide social value?• Offer incentives?• Entertain?

TAKE ACTION

First step:

If you do have an app, make sure it supports http:// (web) links.

And check out my blog post about how to set up an app for indexation by Google.

TAKE ACTION

Must-have

Avoid pitfalls

Recommended

Support deep-linkingUse web URLs for app views where possibleRegister the app in your Search Console

Allow appropriate URLs in robots.txtEnsure first click free in the app

Add markup to pages or sitemapsUse app indexing API to:

Index personal user contentAdd meta information to app viewsEnable activities such as voice actionsExpose popularity of app views to Google

Checklist for Android app indexing

Watch this space

Avoid pitfalls

Must-have

Support Universal LinksAdd your domain(s) to associated-domains in appAdd URLs handled by the app to apple-app-site-association on domain

Use web URLs for app views where possibleAdd GoogleAppIndexing registration to your app

Ensure first click free in the appEnable the back button

Watch out for Google announcing an iOS app indexing APIEnables indexing of personal contentAllows usage information to be sent to GoogleAdds meta information

Checklist for iOS app indexing (Google)

Endgame?

So where’s this all heading?

2 key search trendsspecifically regarding mobile technology

Implicit QuerySignals

IntelligentPersonal

Assistants

We’re moving towards a future of “queryless search”

(and intelligent personal assistants and lots of other cool stuff)

“My vision when we started Google 15 years ago was that eventually you

wouldn't have to have a search query at all.”

Sergey Brin,TED, 2013

Implicit Query

Signals

Intelligent Personal

Assistants

#1

Implicit Query Signals(we want to anticipate your personal context)

• NBED - WEARABLES

IMPLICIT SIGNALS: WEARABLES

IMPLICIT SIGNALS: MODE OF TRANSPORT

• NBED - PHYSICAL WEB

IMPLICIT SIGNALS: HYPER-LOCAL (BEACONS)

Mockup: Jack Morgan

IMPLICIT SIGNALS: READING SIGNS

First Step:

ask yourself which implicit signals could impact searchers trying to find you?

TAKE ACTION

Implicit QuerySignals

Intelligent

Personal Assistant

s

#2

Intelligent Personal Assistants(we want to anticipate your personal needs)

GOOGLE’S MISSION

Personal index + public index + app content

= a single interface for all searches

NOT JUST GOOGLE

MICROSOFT CORTANA

PROACTIVE SIRI

FACEBOOK ‘M’

AMAZON ECHO

First Step:

ask yourself how you can prepare to be the most useful source from a personal assistant app’s point of view?

TAKE ACTION

User Behaviour

Technological Advances

Ranking Factors

(Google)Search

Marketing

Source

Tim Allen, 2015“We used to talk about whether or not

we were in the year of mobile…but we are actually in

the Age of Mobile.”

www.distilled.net/searchscape

@BridgetRandolph @Distilled