I used to travel quite a bit for work and my flights to the east always made me arrive at dinner time. Getting hungry in a strange city can be daunting, especially if you’re trying to avoid fast food and chain restaurants. Upon arriving at the hotel, I would always pull out my phone and do a local search with my GPS enabled. After a few minutes of geographic research and Yelp research, I would walk or take a cab to a local restaurant. My mobile search results used to be pretty delicious.
According to Tech Crunch Magazine, the number of searches performed on smartphones and tablets will double from 10% of all searches in 2011 to 20% in 2012. Digital Buzz estimates that Americans spend an average of 2.7 hours a day on their mobile devices. We also tend to use multiple screens and watching TV while playing Words with Friends is now commonplace. By 2014, mobile Internet usage will surpass desktop usage. This trend is extremely important for all businesses, but especially small ones. More than 50% of mobile searches are local and related to a specific mission. Finding local restaurants, bars, or coffee shops are common quest-related searches.
If your company’s web presence isn’t optimized for local or mobile search, you’re missing out on a valuable opportunity. This doesn’t mean you’ll have to develop an iPhone or Android app just for your small business. However, it does mean that small businesses need to keep mobile in mind when creating an online space. Here are some technical items to consider when optimizing for tablets and smartphones:
1. Avoid Flash, Java and Frames as these are not fully supported
2. Use CSS and HTML 5 as they will give you flexibility
3. Consider creating a separate mobile version of your website
4. Don’t forget vertical and horizontal viewing angles on phones
5. Use existing platforms like Yelp, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter
If you can’t afford to upgrade your business website to HTML 5 and CSS, just focus on existing platforms. All the major social media engines offer tablet and smartphone editions of their services. Yelp, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter all have free mobile versions of their apps that are well-optimized for the small screen. This is an inexpensive way to get the most out of smartphone and tablet based searches without a significant investment other than the time it takes to create each account.
It should also be noted that 29% of all mobile searches are related to food or entertainment and 16% are related to auto repair or auto accessories. If you’re in any of these spaces, mobile search is extremely important in helping drive traffic to physical locations. Local services like contractors, dentists, plumbers, realtors, and gardeners are also high on the mobile search list.
Although I no longer travel for work, I have fond memories of Jack’s Bar-B-Que in Nashville, Yia Yia’s Pizza in Lincoln, and El Puerto Restaurant & Grill in Tampa. I would not have found a single one of these places without a mobile search on my smartphone. Mobile devices are changing the way the world works and now the world moves at the speed of our fingertips.