In a few previous posts on mobile SEO I talked about on-page optimization tactics (keywords/content optimization, dealing with duplicate content issues, etc). Today I'd like to make an attempt in addressing a question we've been asked a lot lately: "How to get this mobile site to show up on Google?"

In a nutshell:
1) Currently the best way to get your mobile site to show up on Google is to focus your efforts on desktop site SEO (with a mobile redirect in place).
2) Simply adding meta tags or optimizing keywords is not enough (unless the competition is very low).

1. Google clearly uses desktop (WWW) site rankings in mobile search results. For instance, open google.com on your smart phone, search for "Walgreens", and you'll see www.walgreens.com at the top of the search results. Even though Walgreen's mobile site has been around for quite a while on m.walgreens.com, the WWW version is what shows up when you Google for "Walgreens" on your smart phone. In other words, Google is reusing the desktop site rankings in mobile searches.

If your client's WWW (desktop) site ranks well, then the easiest thing you can do regarding their mobile SEO is do nothing at all, aside from telling Google that the mobile site is a duplicate (canonical version) of the desktop site. The WWW site will show up in mobile searches, and since you are adding the mobile redirect, the WWW site visitors will see the mobile site version. Essentially your mobile site will be benefiting from the rankings of the desktop site.

2. Since the desktop (WWW) sites are ranking in mobile search results, a good way to improve both desktop and mobile search visibility is to focus efforts on improving the desktop site SEO rankings.

In today's world SEO is no longer about "tricks", such as keyword stuffing or back links, and is all about good content that people read and share. Google looks at a number of social shares and other factors to determine the quality of content.

The best thing your client can do for their SEO is publish really good articles, infographics or videos that are interesting to their audience and are likely to be shared and read. Obviously, this can be hard work. However, the effort may not be not that bad, considering:

• Publishing something really good once or twice a month can be enough for most mom-n-pop businesses.


• When looking for what to write about, a business can think of common questions or concerns that were recently expressed by customers. Quality content addressing these concerns can also be reused for sales and customer service purposes: instead of repeating the same information over and over, a business associate can direct a prospect to a blog article (where a prospect can start reading other articles and then get on a mailing list to receive new information).


• All that good content accumulates. 5-10 articles are enough to combine into an ebook or a white paper (something your prospects will give out their email address for).


• It is worth mentioning that these efforts make a business appear an expert and help build loyal followers. For instance, we had hired a startup attorney to do our employee stock agreement simply because I had been following his blog on startup advice (information that most business attorneys know in their head, but don't bother to expose in a blog to educate potential customers).

3. If your client's desktop site is not ranking well, and if you don't have any influence over their desktop SEO, then go ahead and do some on-page optimization on the mobile site. But keep in mind that on-page optimization alone is not likely to make any significant improvements in their SEO rankings, and that quality content and sharing still needs to be there for the site to show up on Google. A few relatively easy things you can do:

• think of ways you can encourage visitors to share mobile site content (add mobile coupons, contests or interesting videos that can help share the buzz);


• if a client does not have a WWW (desktop) site, a link to the mobile site can be added into their Google+ Local listing, as well as listings on other social networks or consumer review sites, and other quality sites;


• think of some other ways to bring mobile traffic: Facebook advertising or mobile Adwords.

5. And finally, it is important to make sure that your mobile site does not compete with your desktop site rankings. (Otherwise, a desktop site may suddenly "disappear" from Google, as we've seen happen). Make sure you submit a mobile sitemap and set a few canonical tags as applicable.

6. Lastly, remember that mobile SEO is evolving. Frankly, based on what we've seen, even Google's recommendations are not guaranteed to work. Google has been rather vague about providing details on this subject, and this may be due to the fact that Google has no way of accurately determining whether the site is mobile-only, desktop (tablet)-only, or is based on responsive design, the fading differences between tablets and smart phone screens, and a recent comment by Google's Larry Page on preferring to see a full site on mobile devices, conflicting with all the efforts Google has been putting into mobilizing the internet.

Clearly, Google is still figuring it all out. It is important to stay on top of the trends and set clear and realistic expectations with your customers that SEO is a joint long term effort.

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Image credit: experian.com