So, this is officially my first mobile post using the iPhone WordPress app. I am currently sitting on a Greyhound bus, hellbound to the Okanagan, 15 minutes into the trip and already bored. So, luckly for you, dear readers, I’ve chosen to spend my time writing.
To keep the theme, I’ll discuss a little about what I know about mobile SEO. With the introduction of the iPhone, the mobile web did a 180. Suddenly, cute little WML sites slowly started to drop off the web in favor of lightweight CSSified “mobile versions” of sites. Some work exceptionally well (the mobile facebook, for example), others are painful and make you angry (the godaddy mobile site, for example).
There’s some good and some bad when it comes to mobile SEO as well. For example, despite the fact that Google mobile is still the dominant engine, the algorthim is actually (in my opinion and the opinion of others) inferior to Yahoo OneSearch. For me, the real trick to mobile SEO is understanding useability and exactly what your users want from your site when they’re say, out looking for a resturaunt, or on the greyhound blogging.
Local businesses pay close attention:
Put your address and phone number at the top of your site (ideally in the hCard microformat). If I’m visiting your site on my phone it’s not because I want to get a taste of the atmosphere from your jquery photo gallery… it’s because I can’t find the place!
So, there’s some things to think about mobile, and if you do plan to design your site for an iPhone, go to developer.apple.com and download the free SDK, it comes with an iPhone simulator that is web accessible. It’s really good for seeing how your site actually looks on an iPhone, and it’s free!
Also, i’m attaching a picture from the road as proof that mobile blogging is very real!
