There is a difference in SEO marketing for a desktop website and a mobile website especially with Google. In April of 2015, Google changed the algorithm that ranks websites on mobile devices. In other words, if a website was not mobile friendly, meaning that the user couldn’t see it properly and couldn’t navigate it either, then Google would drop the ranking of that website……but only on mobile devices! The same website would retain its ranking on desktop versions. Every website being built today should have a responsive design which means that it will be usable on a cell phone or tablet.
Because there is a different user experience on a desktop than there is on a cell phone, for example, the mobile version of a website may be built differently too. The amount of text on a mobile webpage is going to be less than the desktop version and therefore the number of keywords may be less. Users may search with the same keyword, but mean something different. Bryson Meunier, for example, explains that a desktop user searching with the keyword ‘coupon’ may mean one that can be printed, but by using that word on a mobile device, the user may be searching for a coupon that can be scanned off the cell phone. He also points out that mobile users engage with apps too, so the SEO strategy for mobile websites may reflect that.
According to Global Web Index, 80% of users use their smartphone to search the Internet. If a website isn’t able to reach the targeted audience and provide a good mobile experience, then they may lose out to their competition who is and Google has an algorithm for that!
