November
20
Google has launched it’s much anticipated voice enabled search application for the iPhone. This new feature allows users to simply talk to the phone to retrieve search results. Touch the app, hold phone to face, speak your search request. That’s it. The new Google app uses the location targeting built into the phone to automatically filter by location. Looking for a restaurant in downtown Philly? Just say “Thai Restaurant” and the app will retreive results relevant to where you’re standing.
What does this technology mean for your business? Your company may need a mobile web presence. Because your website needs to be here, uh, i mean there, umm, everywhere.
If you manage a website this means two things:
1) Make sure your website looks ok on the iPhone and other cell phone browsers.
2) Make sure Google knows where your business or service is located.
Your Mobile Web Presence
Check your website on your cell phone and other mobile devices. Mobile browsers vary wildly. A well authored website typically looks ok on an iPhone, but it can look terrbile on a browser from a standard cell phone. You need to consider your audience and determine if it make sense to do a separate and distinct version of your website for a mobile device. When mobile users navigate to your website the website can determine the device the they are using (PC or phone) and switch to the appropriate version of the site. But don’t just consider aesthetics. Consider also the funtions of your website. If your site can provide features that would be useful to your audience from a cell phone you should consider developing a version that is streamlined to immediately deliver those features with minimum clicks.
Finding your Website on Mobile Search
Getting your website to come up on a regular Google searches is no longer your only goal. If you want your website to show for mobile searches you’ll need to let Google know where your company or service is located. To do this you need to submit your website to Google’s Geo Search submission. This allows the search engine to crawl your website and index it so that it can be referenced on a map. This way, when users search from their iphone your business will show up if the user is in your neck of the woods.
To Mobile, or Not to Mobile…
Now, you could argue that your website will not benefit much by appearing in mobile phone searches. Perhaps your service or product is not the sort of thing your customers would consider when on-the-go. But think about this - do your prospective customers ever search the web when they’re standing in line, waiting at a redlight, killing time during commercials, or struggling to stay awake during a boring presentation? If they don’t yet they will. There are more than 3.3 billion mobile phone users world-wide. As the technology becomes more convenient for users to access the web from their phones mobile devices will eclipse the PC as Internet on-ramps.
So, let me ask again. If 3.3 billlion users are going online with their phones, should your website be available through a cell phone Google search?
