Mobile Website Marketing Strategies

       This article will cover many of the strategies, tips, tricks, best practices on the design and uses for mobile websites.  Mobile websites are relatively new online sites that are made specifically for mobile devices like cell phones such the iPhone and Blackberry, personal planners, iPod, iPad and many more.  The idea is to have create the website with a small enough screen resolution and short cuts so that it can easily be viewed by users on their mobile devices.  Since the mobile web and platform is considered by many to be the next frontier of internet and information technology, it is vital for businesses and organizations to learn the

advantages, uses and methodologies to build and also optimize a mobile web presence using a mobile website. 

 

            Mobile website and applications are continuing to grow in popularity and many top websites like MSN, Google, Paypal, Facebook, Banks and more have had mobile versions of their sites for years, for their user-base and members.  Mobile banking, commerce and search marketing are also rising accordingly prompting numerous businesses to invest in mobile software applications and websites.  Any business interested on mobile marketing should determine whether to simply settle for a mobile app or setup a mobile website. Some of the advantages that a mobile site has over a mobile application include lower setup and maintenance costs, larger range of users since mobile site have to target multiple mobile devices and lower upgrade costs.

 

            The various mobile marketing methods that are working for many businesses include mobile search results marketing (by Google, Yahoo etc), online sms signup and marketing, link and url short cuts for faster browsing, viral mobile marketing and many others.  Advertisers and businesses with a mobile presence can now interact directly with their customers and prospects by using mobile sites to communicate faster since mobile devices are now more cheaper and more affordable than even PCs, laptops and computers.  An optimized mobile website provides another avenue for your customers to contact you and stay updated your products and services.

 

 

 

 Bootstrapping, Limited budget small businesses

and Mobile site Marketing

 

 

Small and emerging businesses can utilize the low setup, hosting and marketing costs of Mobile websites to increase their customer base and outreach for usually less than $10 monthly for a basic site.  This allows you to reach anyone with a mobile device in many different countries even while they’re on the go plus it can provide faster technology inroads to countries where laptops are not yet cheap and easily available for everyone.  Mobile devices are furthermore more accessible to prospects who rely on cybercafes or work in environments where computers are not extensively used by employees.

 

There are 3 to 4 times many more mobile devices than there are computers so

creating and optimizing your mobile website is an important step to your mobile marketing plans.  Seo and optimization for mobile sites is naturally similar to normal website optimization so you will want to ensure the ff:

 

•       Make sure your mobile site shows on Yahoo Mobile, Google Mobile, Bing Mobile and similar search engines. 

•       Make sure your site is optimized for easy navigation on cell phones and similar devices so users are encouraged to browse the entire site.

•       Create backlinks to your mobile site by posting in relevant, authoritative and related websites and directories.

•       Optimize your onsite content by researching and using appropriate, related keywords and keeping the keyword density at 3%-6%.

•       Use Social networks and viral marketing by establishing a presence on site’s like Twitter and Linkedin, adding contacts and updating regularly with backlinks to your site and services.

•       Invest in PPC campaigns like Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing for your Mobile site

•       You may want to consider methods like creating an xml sitemap to help search engines index your entire site better.

•       Email Campaigns, Affiliate Marketing, newsletters, offline marketing such as print media, and miscellaneous marketing  to get the word out on your Mobile site.

 

 

Mobile website strategies and ideas that use social networks.            

                                   

 

Mobile websites are uniquely suited to social networks and Web 2.0 viral marketing because social nets were created from the ground up with mobile devices in mind.  Mobile versions of Facebook, Youtube, etc allow users to quickly update and share viral information and links that can lead to traffic and eventually sales for your site.  Embeddable Video and audio links from your site or youtube account can be used to highlight your products and these can be further linked to your blog and other social networks you are on to create a marketing campaign.

 

Other alternative social networks/sites like Yahoo answers, Askville or forums can allow businesses to interact directly with web users by asking or answering questions which you can then use to build awareness of your mobile site and services.  For instance if your niche is smart phone sales you can visit Q&A sites like Yahoo Answers and help real people with phone questions and then place links to your mobile site as your sources.  It is important though to try to provide useful answers which will cause people to want to visit your mobile site.

 

In addition to meeting new contacts and viral marketing, many of these sites do offer cheap, affordable advertising campaigns that allow you to create ads and/or banners that will be displayed all over the social network.  Facebook for instance allows you to setup a campaign for less than $1 per click and it can run indefinitely for as long as you want.  Social sites you should use include:

 

•       Facebook

•       Youtube

•       Twitter

•       Yahoo Answers and Q&A sites

•       Linkedin *

•       Blogs

•       Message Boards

•       Others.

 

            Of all the social networks, Linkedin is the most business oriented site since it was created for professional use and allows you to export information from your contact list.  You can think of your social network contacts as more potential leads and prospects that you can market to on a regular basis. 

 

                                               

Conclusion

 

 The strategies, tips, tricks and  best practices for mobile websites covered in this article are ideal for bootstrapping and limited budget small businesses.  Furthermore using social networks like Linkedin and Facebook in your mobile site marketing is a great way to drive traffic, leads and sales to your products and these methods can be  used worldwide,  not just for the US or other developed nations.  Some points to remember include:

 

•       Make sure your mobile site shows on Yahoo Mobile, Google Mobile, Bing Mobile and similar search engines. 

•       Make sure your site is optimized for easy navigation on cell phones and similar devices so users are encouraged to browe the entire site.

•       Invest in PPC campaigns like Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing for your Mobile site

•       Use email campaigns, affiliate marketing, newsletters, offline marketing, and miscellaneous marketing  to get the word out on your Mobile site.