Your Guide to Mobile SEO

Given that most (if not all) content creation and web development is done on laptops, desktops, and anything but a phone, it’s easy to focus on prioritizing desktop SEO. While it’s still incredibly important in boosting your search engine ranking, reaching your desired audience, and improving your business, it’s not an SEO panacea.

Enter: mobile SEO.

(A quick word of caution: quite a few numbers—the bane of any English major—are going to follow in the coming paragraphs. Just stick with me.)

What is Mobile SEO?

It’s SEO that’s for mobile devices and NOT for computers. Thanks for reading!

Well, more specifically, it’s the practice of optimizing your website’s SEO for mobile devices to improve its search engine ranking.

Let’s set some groundwork first: as of 2024, 90% of all American adults own a smartphone, and that number is likely only going to rise. Combine that with the fact that nearly 60% of all internet searches come from a smartphone, mobile SEO is more important than ever. Need I say more?

Presently, Google prioritizes mobile-first indexing, meaning they index and crawl through the mobile version of a website (including its SEO) first, over its desktop companion. To up the stakes even further, 95% of all mobile searches are done through Google.

So, if you haven’t done it already, it’s high time to focus on your mobile SEO when establishing your plan.

Mobile SEO Configurations

      1. Responsive Design

Close your eyes.

Imagine you have three different smartphones (each a different size) as well as a tablet in front of you. Now, pull up your favorite site in the whole world on each device (and it better be OneHum.com). If everything goes smoothly, it’ll be perfectly formatted to each screen. Meaning you’re able to easily scroll, tap, search, or click away without any problems.

That’s responsive design in a nutshell. When done right, the benefits are massive for your mobile SEO. Most search engines recommend this option over all others, given the ease of implementation, optimization, and maintenance (and not to mention the cheaper cost). And, Google’s algorithm automatically recognizes this setup, making it easier to build out your SEO strategy and platform.

However, with responsive design, you need to either program your site for mobile first and tailor it to desktop, or vice versa.

      2. Dynamic Serving

Dynamic serving takes the either-or problem presented by responsive design and streamlines it. Under this configuration, the server returns different HTML and CSS codes to different devices, but still uses the same URL, regardless of the device. So, the mobile version of a site isn’t just a poorly optimized adaptation of the desktop version, and the other way around, because only the necessary code and files are sent out.

This lets you perfectly customize the user experience, with different layouts optimized for a wide range of devices. You can also specify one screen size to modify and leave the others untouched. This configuration comes in handy if you’re running an e-commerce site, where fluid interactivity usually results in conversion.

Dynamic serving also helps reduce load times and increase overall search engine optimization. However (there’s always a “however”), you’ll need plenty of time, and possibly a large IT team, to manage all the complex requirements and constant updates needed to make this setup sing.

      3. Separate URLs

You might see this referred to as a “Dedicated Site,” but as the name suggests, this setup features two URLs and separate HTML codes, with the server redirecting the user to the appropriate site based on their device. This allows you to target specific devices and fully optimize the UX to make for an even more streamlined and easy-to-use experience. And, with incredibly fast load speeds, you increase your potential of ranking even higher in local searches.

HOWEVER (last one, I promise), Google advises against this configuration given that it might result in problems with crawling and indexing your page if there are discrepancies between the two. So make sure that your mobile site contains the same content as your desktop. You might experience some traffic loss if you don’t, given Google’s emphasis on mobile-first indexing.

Like dynamic serving, this requires a heck of a lot of time and resources to implement and maintain. (That’s not to mention the challenges you face having to optimize each site for the plethora of screen resolutions and dimensions.) Unless you’re a website-building guru with the necessary resources at your disposal, this last option might be more of a headache than it’s actually worth.

What Mobile SEO Configuration Should You Choose?

Ultimately, your choice comes down to the time and resources you have on hand—and the purpose of your site. If you’re running a simple blog, or have limited money on hand, the Google-recommended responsive design is your go-to. For e-commerce, larger publications, or an audience of mostly mobile users, dynamic serving is the solution. It’s also worth pointing out that neither has to exist in a vacuum: dynamic serving and responsive design aren’t mutually exclusive. You can use aspects of responsive design under dynamic serving in order to fully tailor your content to different screen sizes and orientations. But if you want a challenge, or are a bit of a psycho, you can always use separate URLs.

Just don’t come back complaining if you do. I did warn you, after all.

Alec Sarnowski is a content writer, SEO junkie, and serial comma abuser for one of the most dynamic content agencies in Atlanta.