If you’re beginning efforts to improve mobile Google Places Optimization, you’ll likely consider changes to your keyword selection based on emerging research about how people tend to use mobile search. Use the suggestions below for choosing keyword approaches that are likely to improve your results in a mobile search.
Improve Your Mobile Search Rankings
Keep in mind what you’re looking for before committing to a keyword selection modification. Much Google Places Optimization advice isolates what will improve your business rankings in search engines without paying attention to how that increased traffic will translate into increased profits. If you want to consider conversion rates based on your Google Places Optimization rankings, different tools and metrics will be required.
If you’ve used short tail keywords, this approach is supported by current research into how people search using mobile devices because current research indicates that mobile users utilize auto complete features for searches more than those using desktops or laptops. While these findings make sense because it’s frequently more difficult to type on mobile devices, it also means that generic short tail key words might work better for mobile devices in terms of bringing your business up based on these shorter, more common searches.
Don’t ignore the drawbacks of using short tail keywords in terms of more competition because of the increased popularity of the words you choose. The important difference for mobile purposes is that your business will come up on searches that are likely to be made using mobile devices with the use of short tail keywords but still may not achieve prominence in terms of rankings if there are many search results.
Long tail keywords are generally considered more descriptive and likelier to get users who are looking for your specific offering. For small businesses, it usually makes sense to use long tail keywords because competition in the short tail keyword category is usually dominated by larger business names.
If you decide to you use long tail keywords don’t assume that each word in your keyword phrase will be “searchable”. This means that merely jumbling the order of words from let’s say, “Outdoor straw brooms” to “brooms of straw for outdoors” will not necessarily mean that your business will come up in a search for brooms because your keyword phrase is not the single word “brooms”.
While there are few hard and fast rules about geolocation variances in search results, it’s important to be aware of how your company’s ranking may change based on a user’s location in order to adjust your Google Places Optimization strategy including your choice of keywords.
One of the results that may impact your choice of using long tail or short tail keywords is that new research indicates that Google results for companies with multiple locations frequently stack up better in Google Places Optimization than those with a single location. This means that for smaller businesses, even using the short tail keyword approach they are less likely to be a top-ranked company if there are stores with multiple locations who represent the competition.
As mobile marketing and search become more popular, new tips for Google Places Optimization designed to improve mobile search results are emerging. Use the considerations above to determine keyword changes that could help promote your business’ Google Places Optimization goals.