iOS9 Search & Seo #SEODifferent Local Search Advantage Presentation #SMX15 9.28.15

iOS9 Search:#SEODifferent

Local Search Advantage Workshop

SMXEast 2015

Andrew ShotlandLocalSEOGuide.com

@localseoguide

www.localseoguide.com @localseoguide.com

About LocalSEOGuide

2

10 Years of Enterprise & Multi-Location SEO

SMXEast2015 Local Search Advantage

Goin’ Mobile

www.localseoguide.com #SEODifferent 3


We Apps…😻



http://applemapsmarketing.com/2015/06/61-of-u-s-iphone-owners-use-apple-maps-comscore/






Apple’s Local Search Evolution


SEO Environment has ChangedMoving from Desktop Mobile Apps

1. Mobile Web SEO Optimization2. Apple Store & Android Play Store SEO3. Google & Facebook App Indexing SEO4. New: iOS Search SEO

Google App Indexing Facebook App Links


iOS9 Search: Siri• Apple Maps• Bing Search• App-Specific

Commands– “Open”, “Play”,

“Call”, etc.



iOS 9 Search: Safari


• Apple Maps

• App Content

• Suggested Websites


iOS9 Search: Spotlight• App Content• Websites• Bing Search



Two iOS Search Indexes

Applebot crawls + Standard markup User-created content/engagement with

apps on user’s device



Breaking Down iOS App Search Features

3 Core APIs



- User Activity: Reviews, ratings, check-in’s, pageviews, etc.

- Viewed app content can be eligible for public indexation on app Spotlight & Safari search

- Each activity has attributes & meta data- Can designate activities to be publicly available- Each activity has meta data

- var title- var keyword- var contentAttributeSet- var expirationDate- var webpage URL- CSSearchableItemAttributeSet? Could contain:

- contentDescription- thumbnailURL & Data- City, Province, Latitude Longitude

Features



NSUserActivity



- Unique image on each item

- Don’t use app logo as a thumbnail for all items- Minimum Size 180 X 270 pixels- Square of Circular Image 180 X 180 pixels

Image Size Recommendation

Model Minimum Image Width

Minimum Image Height

5s & earlier 40 px 60 px6 & all iPads 120 px 180 px6 Plus 180 px 270 px



- Title- Based on the screen size of an iOS device, a long title

can get truncated, so it’s best to limit your title to 90 characters.

- Description- As with titles, long descriptions can also get truncated,

so it’s best to limit your description to 300 characters.

Title & Description Recommendations



- UI & Server Recommendations- No interstitials- Performance- Take user directly to content

UI & Server Recommendations



- APIs that help you add app-specific content to the on-device index and enable deep links into your app.

- API that adds content index for:- Only on devices with the app installed- Can add, update, delete from index- Batch update is also available- Index can be loaded at anytime when you

load the app- Recommended to only contain a few

thousand items

- This API is not dependent on user activities

Features



CoreSpotlight



- Web markup lets you make your related web content searchable and helps you enrich the user’s search experience.

- Used to enable App Search:- Need to allow Applebot to Discover the Website- Ensure there is markup for Deep Links in Website- Enable Deep Links handling in App- Structured Data Markup is Strongly Recommended

- Universal Links:- The universal links replace deep links with better security

features and easier development between apps. - Unclear if these URLs are trackable.

Features



- Focus on Schema.org Microdata- Aggregated Ratings- Offers- Organization- PriceRange- Recipe

- Accepting OG Tags- Og: Image

Structured Data Markup


http://schema.org/


User Activity + App Content Indexation + Web Markup

= Relevance Score


Engagement Ratio = New BackLink?


Spotlight Search Algorithm Test

• Enter query• Click on first Best Buy

Locator result• Repeat query• Record rankings• Click on first Best Buy

Locator result in “pack”• Repeatwww.localseoguide.com #SEODifferent

23


Query = “tv”Result # 1 2 3 (Accidental

Click on Contacts)4 5

1 1 App Xfinity TV Go 1 App Xfinity TV Go 1 App Xfinity TV Go 1 App Xfinity TV Go 1 App Xfinity TV Go

2 3 “TV” Contacts: Tim Villaneuva, Amy Vernon?

3 “TV” Contacts: Tim Villaneuva, Amy Vernon?




3 3 Apple Music “Townes Van Zandt”

3 Apple Music “Townes Van Zandt”




4 1 Podcast 1 Podcast 1 Podcast 1 Podcast 1 Podcast

5 1 iCal event 1 iCal event 1 iCal event 1 iCal event 1 iCal event

6 3 BB 3 BB 1 iMessage 3 BB 3 BB

7 1 iMessage 1 iMessage 3 mail 1 iMessage 1 iMessage

8 3 mail 3 mail 2 Notes 3 mail 3 mail

9 2 Notes 2 Notes 3 videos 2 Notes 2 Notes

10 3 videos 3 videos 3 BB 3 videos 3 videos



Query = “appliance”Result # Query #1 2 3 4 5

1 2 suggested websites

1 BB 2 BB 3 BB 3 BB

2 3 maps 2 suggested websites

2 suggested websites



3 1 podcast 3 maps 3 maps 3 maps 3 maps

4 3 mail 1 podcast 1 podcast 1 podcast 1 podcast

5 3 BB 3 BB 3 BB 3 BB 3 BB

6 Wikipedia 3 mail 3 mail 3 mail 3 mail

7 3 Bing Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia

8 3 Bing 3 Bing 3 Bing 3 Bing



Spotlight Search Algorithm

• The app must contain the keyword or some close variation to rank

• The more you use an app the more likely it is to show up, regardless of what you use it for

• The more common a keyword the more likely irrelevant results are to rank

• Content/engagement ratio appears to be a non-factor at the moment



How Yelp SPAMs Spotlight Search



Near Term Considerations

• Make sure your business data is up to date on Apple Maps

• U.S. Data Providers:- mapsconnect.apple.com- Axciom- Booking.com- Factual.com- GasBuddy.com- GreatSchools.com- Neustar Localeze- TripAdvisor.com- Yelp.com

• Start out with a big app index for Spotlight. Avoid indexing low search value URLs

• Add schema markup to web pages

• Test aggressive tagging

• Focus on user engagement with your app & presence on highly engaging third-party apps



Further Reading• AppleMapsMarketing.com• iOS App Search Programmer Guide• Yext:Optimizing Local Search for iOS9

(reg req’d)


http://www.applemapsmarketing.com/

https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/AppSearch/index.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40016308-CH4-SW1

http://www.yext.com/blog/2015/08/optimizing-local-search-ios-9-whitepaper/



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iOS9 Search & Seo #SEODifferent Local Search Advantage Presentation #SMX15 9.28.15