searchlove london 2016 | bridget randolph | the changing landscape of mobile search

“We used to talk about whether or not we were in the year of mobile…

but we are actually in

the Age of Mobile.”

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...

Mobile has become the preferred way

to browse the web.

Proof: the story from the stats. Ben Evans.

It wasn’t always like this.

It’s because this happened

2008

Source

It’s because this happened

2008

Source

2016

It’s because this happened

2008

Source

2020

2016

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.”

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 how to prevent showrooming.

...that ship has sailed.

OH WELL

welcome to...

The Changing Landscape of Mobile Search

Bridget Randolph

User Behaviour

Technological Advances

Ranking Factors

(Google)Search

MarketingReactiveApproach

4 key shifts for Google

Mobile First Mobile

Friendliness

App Integration with Web

Search

Page Load Times and

AMP

Mobile Friendliness as a Ranking

Factor

Site Speed and

Page Load Times

App Integration with Web

Search

Mobile First Design of

SERPs

#1

Mobile FirstMobile

Friendliness

Page Load Times and

AMP

Making Desktop ExperienceMore Like Mobile Experience

The old “Google” - listing style

The new “Google” - card style

No more sidebar ads

Content

has to become

more flexible.

In the news

First step(s):

- Account for it in your reporting and tracking

- Consider creating more top-of-funnel landing pages

- Optimize for instant answers and enhanced search -

structured data, rich snippets

Take action

- Look for Universal Results reports in common tracking

tools, including

- STAT Analytics

- SEMRush

- Brightedge

- Structured data testing tool

- Content Everywhere by Sara Wachter-Boettcher (2012)

Tools and tips

● Better integration of content within apps○ Opening developer access to iMessages, Maps

● Cross-device integration○ Universal Clipboard on OS

○ Siri remote for AppleTV

○ ApplePay on websites

● Less device-specific dependencies○ Android Wear 2.0 doesn’t require phone

○ Google Auto can integrate directly with car system

Where’s it heading?

#2

Mobile Friendliness as a Ranking

Factor

Site Speed and

Page Load Times

App Integration with Web

Search

Mobile First Design of

SERPsMobile First

Mobile Friendliness

Page Load Times and

AMP

Mobile Friendliness

They started with a “positive” incentive

approach.

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

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

Google also announced a

4.7%

percentage point 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 Mobile Usability Report

● Separate tab on the Pagespeed Insights tool

Take action

● use URL Profiler to check URLs in bulk with the Google

mobile-friendliness tool

● use BrowserStack to simulate mobile browser

experiences

Tools and tips

● Mobile first approach to rankings ○ Mobile page speed will be ranking factor

○ Mobile index will be primary index

● Content accessibility needs don’t stop with smartphones○ Google Home and similar devices

○ Android Wear 2.0 and other wearables

○ Smart cars and vehicle-integrated apps

● Mobile search is tied to voice search and physical context○ Optimizing for conversational search and geolocation

Where’s it heading?

Mobile Friendliness as a Ranking

Factor

Site Speed and

Page Load Times

App Integration with Web

Search

Mobile First Design of

SERPs

#3

Mobile First Design of

SERPs

Mobile Friendliness

Page Load Times and

AMP

Mobile Page Load Times and AMP

40% of users will

abandon a page that takes too long to load.

3G Is the dominant network type worldwide.

even a

1sec delay was found to lead to a

7% decrease

in conversions.

In the newsIn the news

Facebook Instant Articles

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 quickly

b) be cached by Google and served directly in the SERP

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

For the Washington Post, implementing AMP

pages increased mobile return visitors by 23%.

These AMP pages showed 88% faster load time

when compared with regular mobile pages.

Case study: Washington Post

Originally AMP was pitched as a platform for Google News and other editorial content.

But it’s now being supported more widely.

First step: decide whether AMP is relevant to you.

You should use AMP if:

● You make a lot of content, particularly editorial content

● You want wider distribution of your content

● Your industry has a high proportion of mobile traffic

● It’s compatible with your business model

Take action

Next step: AMP implementation.

● Create AMP supported versions of the pages you want

supported

● If you’re a Wordpress user, you can use a plugin like

Automattic AMP and/or Glue by Yoast

● For ecommerce sites, Google recently posted this guide

to getting started with AMP.

Take action

●

● Mobile-specific tab on the Pagespeed Insights tool

● Resource for running webpagetest.org speed tests multiple times in a Google

spreadsheet

AMP-specific:

● Google’s AMP validation testing tool

● Resource from SEW on AMP implementation for Wordpress

● Google tutorial on implementing AMP

● eBay’s notes on what went well and what was tricky in their implementation

Tools and tips

Where’s it heading?

● A single interface for everything - from first query to

checkout.

○ Using a personal assistant app like Siri or Allo to see a

task through from start to finish...

○ e.g. schedule a dinner with calendar, book a table,

order an Uber to the restaurant, and pay for the meal

Mobile Friendliness as a Ranking

Factor

Site Speed and

Page Load Times

App Integration with Web

Search

Mobile First Design of

SERPs

#4

Mobile First Design of

SERPs

Mobile Friendliness

Page Load Times and

AMP

App Integration

Google needs to integrate app content

with the rest of the web

app indexation.

First step:

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 ACTIONTake 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 ACTIONTake action

Must-have

Avoid pitfalls

Recommended

● Support deep-linking● Use web URLs for app views where possible● Register the app in your Search Console

● Allow appropriate URLs in robots.txt● Ensure first click free in the app

● Add markup to pages or sitemaps● Use app indexing API to:

○ Index personal user content○ Add meta information to app views○ Enable activities such as voice actions○ Expose popularity of app views to Google

Checklist for Android app indexing

Watch this space

Avoid pitfalls

Must-have

● Support Universal Links○ Add your domain(s) to associated-domains in app○ Add URLs handled by the app to apple-app-site-association on domain

● Use web URLs for app views where possible● Add GoogleAppIndexing registration to your app

● Ensure first click free in the app● Enable the back button

● Watch out for Google announcing an iOS app indexing API○ Enables indexing of personal content○ Allows usage information to be sent to Google○ Adds meta information

Checklist for iOS app indexing (Google)

● Bridget’s original blog post on app indexation (2015)

● Cindy Krum on Progressive Web Apps (PWAs)

● Google guidance on deep linking and app indexation

● Introduction to Firebase

○ Cindy Krum’s Mozcon presentation

Tools and tips

Where’s it heading?● Blurred lines between app content and web content

○ Firebase as centralized app platform

○ App streaming and progressive web apps (PWAs)

○ Google Instant Apps

○ Single sign-on for Apple TV

● Greater integration between apps○ Pay for things in iMessage, ApplePay on websites, Apple Maps syncing

with calendar and location

● 3rd party developer integrations with Apple core apps○ iMessage, Maps, Siri

Bonus Round

● Mobile browser search (Safari autocomplete)● Mobile assistants (Siri, Cortana)● iPhone Spotlight● App store search (Google Play, Apple App Store)● Mobile chatbots (Allo, Facebook M)● Personal index (My Photos, Calendar, Messages)● ...and more.

The mobile search ecosystem today - beyond Google

● Google Auto

● Google Home

● Android Wear 2.0

● Apple Air Pods

● Siri on MacOS

Where’s it heading?

The future of mobile...

“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

“The [Google] assistant is an ambient experience that will work seamlessly

across devices and contexts. ...It builds on all our years of investment in deeply

understanding users' questions.”

Sundar Pichai, Google I/O, 2016

An Intelligent Personal Assistant(“Machine Learning First”)

● Assistive search

● Getting things done

● In your world

● Powers other services...

Google Assistant

● Case study: WashingtonPost

● Case study: eBay

● Case study: Onnit

Google Home

Allo and Duo

Personal index + public index + app content

= a single interface for all searches

a single interface for all searches+ implicit context+ machine learning+ artificial intelligence

= intelligent personal assistant

First Step:

ask yourself how you can prepare to be the most useful

source from a personal assistant app’s point of view?

TAKE ACTIONTake action

User Behaviour

Technological Advances

Ranking Factors

(Google)Search

Marketing

● physical interaction with individuals and

environment

● Device- and app-agnostic integration

● voice recognition and conversational interaction

Key themes in new technology

User Behaviour

Technological Advances

Ranking Factors(Google)

Search Marketing

www.distilled.net/searchscape

@BridgetRandolph@Distilled