I.M.Retired

Mobile websites are great. However, when you are marketing mobile websites to clients, how do you propose to drive leads and traffic to that website? Will traditional SEO tactics have any effect on mobile users?

For example, I'm driving home; its getting late; I'm hungry; no time to cook when I get home.

What to do? Order a pizza, of course. That is the beauty of mobile sites - one click calling from anywhere to your business - instantly.

So, I pull over to the side of the road (notice that I'm very safety conscious and don't use my mobile phone while driving...)

Oops - I'm having a memory lapse. Can't remember the name of the pizza place's mobile website.

Was it bobsamazingpizzapalace.com or marlenespizzas.mobi, or pizzaplus.mobi or pizzaplus.com

While it's easy to set up a mobile website for a business - how easy is it for potential customers to find it when they need it most?

A possible solution...

Would a local (and locally advertised) directory of mobile sites help drive traffic and leads to a mobile site? I think it would - sort of a 411 Yellow Pages directory for mobile sites.

And, are the yellow pages folks already offering this service? If so, how would you improve on it?

I don't see how simply offering a mobile website creation service can benefit a business without advertising the mobile website itself in a way that would reach a large audience of potential users.

Any suggestions as the best way to do this?

WillR

If I could not remember the address of my local pizza place I would use Google to find it. Bing. Up comes their main website in Google and when I click on their main website, the mobile redirect script automatically detects that I am a user on a mobile device and redirects me to the mobile optimized version of that website.

In other words, you don't need to remember the web address of their mobile site anymore than you need to remember the web address of their main site. That is why we have search engines. However they have always found your main site they will find your mobile site in exactly the same way since your mobile site works alongside your main website.

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I.M.Retired

So basically, a directory featuring local mobile websites would probably not be a selling point for customers wanting a mobile websites.

I thought perhaps it might be a selling point. If a site was advertised locally as being a directory of mobile websites (with an easy-to-remember domain name) it really would not have any advantage over a simple Google search.

I'm just trying to get a handle on how mobile phone users search for things. Of course, Google and Bing are the first choice - but the idea of creating a local directory of mobile sites seemed like it might be a good idea.

cottonking2000

Worthless browsing time. Ok have you ever been waiting somewhere and picked up the phone to browse the web? Bingo act 1 of mobile web activities.

Have you ever needed a "Something" on your travels? Goto the mobile Web. GPS helps you land the closest location. Click to call the store. Bingo act 2 of mobile web.

We do this all day long. I have people on our mobile product driving 4 - 10 times the traffic to mobile with confirmation on call tracking and drive requests. We have a statefarm agent that is getting 6773 calls, emails, and dir request via mobile devices and they are only getting 400 google maps request and they are first page. Figure the out.

Mark Marzinzik

There is already a World-wide solution... its called Google Places. I am working on a local solution called Godex Mobile Directory. You can view it here...Godex | Mobile

Also I believe with HTML-5 there will be more and more businesses moving away from both ITunes and the Android Marketplace. There is no need to use either with the advent of HTML-5. My opinion. It trumps them both!

WillR

I wouldn't imagine it would be a great selling point. Even if you had a local directory website there is no way it is going to include all the local businesses in it so people are always going to prefer to use the search engines over any directory website. Much quicker to go to Google and just do the search there than have to go to a separate directory website on of the off-chance you might find what you are looking for.

Look at it this way. There are plenty of directory sites online that list regular websites in them. Do you ever visit any of those websites or do you just go straight to Google whenever you are looking for something? I know I just go straight to the search engines because I know it is going to have the most up to date listing of websites available.

Mobile users are after fast information. Search engines are definitely the best way to ensure that.

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guavasofts

1. Google Mobile. The box to type in text for a search does not appear.

2. ESPN Mobile. Only a few of the links seem to work. Nothing happens when I click(touch) 90% of the links.

Nail Yener

Hi Val,

You have a great question here and I would like to talk about this a bit. I missed talking about mobile

I was away from the mobile discussions for a while, busy with other projects and doing some research about the best mobile website approach.

A few months ago, I was designing and selling mobile websites to business people but since it was taking a lot of effort on my side to land a deal, I paused offering mobile websites until I find a partner who is good at selling.

I didn't use any ready-made mobile templates and I custom designed all my mobile sites from scratch so that I could satisfy more requirements of the clients. In the process, I learned a lot of things about mobile web design and mobile devices and I encountered many more problems compared to traditional web design.

Firstly, you shouldn't think the mobile website as a separate website even though it may have its own URL etc. It is just the mobile version of a website. When people visit a site via a desktop device they see the desktop version, when they visit via a mobile device, they see the mobile version. So, you really don't need to worry about the promotion/SEO/marketing of the mobile version. In many cases, I noticed that webmasters use the same URL for both the desktop and mobile version but change the layout using CSS and/or scripts.

And I guess this is where the mobile web is going. We really don't need to create another domain such as website.mobi or another subdomain such as mobile.website.com or a directory such as website.com/m/. We can (and we will, with the help of the latest advancements in web design) present the same content with different layouts on different screens and this is what we should do in my opinion. When we see more sites following this approach, your question will be pointless.

I thought about this for a long time and actually I started a mobile directory in one niche but in time I realized that it was not such a good idea because simply a directory will not lure any traffic unless it offers something unique and I couldn't think of anything unique. I am not saying it won't work. Everything may work in the realm of internet but you have to offer something unique to your visitors.

Mobile websites may or may not bring in more customers and you may or may not use this as a selling point. It is more about serving your customers better as a business owner. Here is my justification and it will be mostly about the technical aspects of web but at the end, it will have an effect on the customer behavior as well:

- If your website takes a lot of time to load on a mobile device,
- If your website looks terrible on a mobile device,
- If your website doesn't perform well on a mobile device (buttons, videos, forms not working etc.)
- If you are getting mobile traffic

Add click-to-call buttons, mobile-optimized images and maps, and things like that to the list.

Then you absolutely need a mobile optimized version of your site. Probably it will not make much difference for many small business owners whether to have a mobile site or not but there are certain categories that a mobile website (together with mobile marketing strategies) will totally benefit the business.

My personal view on the topic is that 10 years from now, all the active websites, especially business websites, will have a mobile version (or call it a version that fits all screens) whether they had it willingly or by the help of us, internet marketers

shane_k

is this not what apps like Yelp do?

Or am I not understanding what you mean?

I.M.Retired

Shane: Yelp is good if you are promoting businesses in larger cities.

I live in a small, remote rural community. There are no small, local communities in Canada listed in Yelp.

I see the market as not so much being locals - they already know most of the businesses in the area.

The target market for the type of local mobile directory I'm thinking of would primarily be for tourists visiting this area - and we do get our fair share on a year round basis. I thought perhaps is a mobile directory site was promoted locally it would make it easier for tourists and newcomers to find many listings for different communities in the area on one local directory rather than doing several Google searches to shop and compare prices and services, etc., that they were seeking.

midasman09

Hey Val.....I'm going to lay myself wide open here....to let you IN on "How" to Promote Mobile Websites....HOWEVER....I've been helped here and this is "My Way" of "Giving Back"....so....here goes;

Place yourself in the Body of a person with a Mobile Phone;

1) Sitting in a Doctor's Office -

2) Sitting in the Waiting Room of an Auto Dealership -

3) Sitting in the Waiting Room of a Dentist -

4) Checking into a Motel or Hotel -

Now....what if there was a Sign, somewhere in any of these areas that said;
"Scan This Code for Special Offers from Local Businesses!"

And....in the 1st Scene....up on their Phone would come a "Directory" of Mobile Sites having to do with...."Health" (Insurance)(Vitamin Shop)

Next (#2) (Auto Dealer) a "Directory" with Auto Parts Store, Insurance, etc

#3 - Dentist Office (Again, a Directory of Health, Insurance etc Mobile SItes

#4 - a Directory of Restaurants

Now....what you do with each of these Specialized Directories is....Make It EXCLUSIVE! Only ONE of each type of business!

So....now....place yourself into the Body of the Owner of one of these businesses!

What if YOU were offered the opportunity to be the ONLY "Insurance Agent" in the Directory aimed at "Vehicle Owners"? Or, the ONLY "Pizzeria" in the "Tourist" Directory....etc.

You set up the QR Codes to bring up your "Exclusive Directory" aimed at a certain "Target Market"!

So...you COULD charge Lots of Moola offering "Exclusives" in these type of "Directories"!

Forget about trying to "Appeal To The Masses"!....trying to get Mobile Sites on the 1st page of anything. Forget about "SEO"!

Set up "Directories" appealing to SPECIFIC Niches and make each Business Category...exclsuive....and you can retire in a few mos with a Bundle coming in Monthly!

Think about it!

Don Alm....always looking at projects from the standpoint of "WHO is my Target"

I.M.Retired

Don, thank you so much for that informative post!

Personally, I like directory sites - they give me what I call a 'smorgasbord of choices' for my search term. I find they save a lot of time clicking on google links only to find the link doesn't provide exactly what I hoped it would. At least on a directory site you can read what each business offers and select a few that you might like to check.

And I agree with you, that Directory sites need to be focussed. I don't want to have to sort through real estate listings when what I really want is a Pizza!

Neil:

What I was thinking about, along the lines of 'unique' is to offer premium promo videos to business owners. The directory listing would be free - just like Google, but in the sidebar - short promo videos would be paid listings. (Or even a separate page of videos of local businesses by category.) Price of a promo-video would depend on where the videos was displayed.

midasman09

Hey Val....here's a tidbit I did many moons ago Re: a "Town Directory" (sorry this was B4 Da Web) Maybe you can get some insight into how "us" marketing folks operate;

The year was 1990 when we moved to a small Oregon town (Roseburg) and I discovered there was NO "Welcome" program.

Well....I went over to the local "RE Board" and asked "Appox How Many Houses were being sold". When I heard, "Average of 120 a Month!" I KNEW I had to put together a "Welcome Book" I had done in 2 other towns (Aspen, CO and Glenwood Springs, CO)

I made up a "Mock-Up" (in those days I called it a "Dummy") It had a nice looking Cover....with all sorts of info about the town....including "Key Phone #'s" to help newcomers get settled in.

And....I used the local Phone Book to create a Category List in which I placed most of the existing businesses in their respective Categories.

So....I made up a Master Copy of this "Booklet" thingee that would be made available FREE of Charge at the 8 major RE Offices and went about going Door-To-Door to businesses (even the 2 Malls)....showing my "Welcome" booklet to biz owners and.....pay attention here!

When I opened the Booklet well....Heavens Ta Betsy....guess what? There....IN it's proper Category....was a Listing for the business I was visiting....and....my opening comments to these Biz Owners was;

"Hey! I'm giving you a FREE Listing in our "Welcome" book and....I'd just like to make sure....(get ready, here it comes, the "Lock-In")....everything is correct!"

And I'd proceed to show their Listing and above each Category Listing there was a Blank Box. So...as we were looking at HIS Listing...to make sure everything was correct"....their eyes would travel UP to the Top of the Listing....to the Box....and....inevitably a question would come from my prospects Lips!

WHAT is that Box at the top of my Category?

I'd then explain that that was a "Premium" Listing and there is a Charge for that Space.

Then the question was, "How Much to be in THAT spot?"

So....I gladly mentioned a Number and....they either wanted that spot or they didn't.

However...."Business Competition" being alive & well at that time....I sold MOST of those "Boxes" .....and all I was doing was NOT trying to "Sell" anything....just offer FREE Listings in a Booklet that would be seen by New Home Buyers!

So....I hope 1 or 2 folks here can pick up on the "Psychology" that was used....and APPLY it to NowAdays.

Hope you got something outa this. My wifee's calling me up for Sunday Din-Din.

Don Alm....Marketing Guy

cottonking2000

Local search ads and local places on Google Drive thousands of hits to people. Now with our service, it drives thousands of calls. Really, I see the reports every day and it amazes me. I know people will say hey I know the local pizza phone number and such. Bull Shoot - I have a pizza place 10 blocks from me - papa johns - the biggest sections of orders are from mobile phones that drive leads from local search. They even joke how many of the people are repeat and can not rememebr the number or address. They may go to papa johns but really they do not. They search get locals and click to call. That is my experience and the reason people buy our service and the reason google advertises for people to buy the services they sell.

cottonking2000

Short promo videos need to be in html 5 not Flash or youtube. They will not show up right.

Quentin

Youtube will work in 90% of new phones.

Wow Dorothy that is keyword stuffing in a title at its best eh.

Quentin

known

Great information relayed here!

Thank you.

Lots to think about in terms of SEO, directories and ordering a pizza on the way home!

Will need to revisit local Google searching and the results based upon the device.

Thanks,

Cheryl

Cheryl C. Cigan
www.known.com

NerdGary

SEO has absolutely NO effect on apps... which is why you MUST make a native app which you can publish on a "market" such as the Android Market.

.::NATIVE ANDROID APP CREATOR SOFTWARE ::.

WillR

You do realize how silly it looks when you keep chiming in on conversations and pushing apps apps apps when they are clearly not needed - and your signature is advertising an app creator.

You are obviously struggling to get people to use your app generator which leads me to believe we are all correct in saying apps are NOT the way forward for small businesses - they make no sense whatsoever.

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