I have come across many that don’t bother with the mobile searches, but the info speaks for itself. the numbers of mobile searches continues to rise.

Great post – I’ve been looking forward to some more definitive advice on the issue.

So I’m assuming it’s worth submitting sitemaps for both the normal and the mobile site?

Do you think using tags like on the normal site are a ‘signal’ for the search engines which helps them to understand the 2 sites may share similar content, but there’s a good reason for it (i.e. usability) and so shouldn’t be penalised?

Do you have a recommendation for a redirection script?

thanks again,

Dan

I should clarify that when I say that you need a mobile site, I’m talking to those who wish to be competitive in mobile search. If you don’t wish to be competitive in mobile search, that’s another matter, I think. My frustration is with consultants who speak regularly about mobile SEO, which is the practice of making your brand competitive in mobile search, and say that you don’t need a mobile site to do it.

That said, I do think that a business case could be made for b2b mobile marketing, including mobile search marketing. I will do a future post on the subject, as it’s something that a number of people have questions about. For your specific case I know that people are searching on keywords related to your business, as I can see it in Google’s mobile keyword tool. When I put in the URL, a number of keywords came back that people have searched on their iPhones and other devices, including “user interface” with 720 global monthly mobile searches and “usability” with 480 global monthly mobile searches. It’s probably a fraction of the desktop search volume now, but the conversion rate is probably higher, users are no less qualified and could still result in a lead. When you consider what the lead is ultimately worth to you, that should give you an idea of whether or not it’s worth the investment to create a mobile site.

A couple of other factors to consider:
1. Apart from mobile search, there is mobile email to consider for b2b site creation. Others have done a good job making a case for b2b mobile content for email. I know not everyone agrees, but from my perspective, if a brand would invest in a site for mobile email, it wouldn’t take much more to optimize it for mobile searchers as well.
2. When you add mobile ranking factors to the mix it becomes possible for sites that wouldn’t be able to compete on certain keywords in the desktop space to do so in the mobile space, provided they’re mobile-optimized. Therefore, broader keywords (like “web design” with 5400 global monthly mobile searches, or “design” with 135,000 global monthly mobile searches) have the potential to bring in traffic and impressions as well, giving an additional branding benefit that some sites wouldn’t get on the desktop.
3. Mobile search is growing so quickly that Google takes it for granted that it will eclipse desktop search in less than 10 years. Businesses that create and optimize content now will have the advantages in the mobile web at that time that sites like Amazon have in the desktop web today. Because Amazon started early building an authority site for the desktop web, they have some advantages now in search that competitors can’t replicate.
4. Experimenting with mobile SEO doesn’t have to be a costly investment. As with anything, you get what you pay for, but many tools and site creators are free.

I’ll leave the rest for a future post. For now, I’ll email you this short keyword list and encourage you to do a little bit of keyword research with the Google mobile keyword tool. Also, if you haven’t already, it might help to install simple mobile analytics like PercentMobile to see how many of your site visitors are coming from mobile devices now. You might be surprised.

Thanks for the question! Hope the answer helped.

While you make a very good general case and I mostly agree with suggestions, I would challenge you to convince me that a business services website should develop a mobile site. Sadly, I simply don’t think my firm’s B to B customers and prospects are engaged deeply enough with our offering to be visiting from their iPhones.

Randy