Google’s efforts to make mobile search much easier! 

Did you know that 3 out of 5 searches are conducted on a mobile device, including smart phones and tablets? Additionally, 50% of travel or restaurant mobile searches result in a purchase¹.

With these stats, it is no wonder Google has been pushing features to make searching easier for mobile users. But the real question is, does your hotel or business have a mobile strategy in place?

Last June, the search giant announced that it will alert U.S.-based searchers if a site has a “faulty redirect” that leads mobile users to the business’s desktop website.  Also, sites that are not mobile-friendly will get demoted in mobile search results. 

Over the past few weeks, Google took another step in improving searcher’s mobile web experience by rolling out its “mobile-friendly” label, which warns mobile searchers whether they’ll see a mobile-friendly site or not when clicking on the result.

Mobile-friendly site in search results

The way mobile-friendly sites should look on a smartphone

How can hotel websites qualify and optimize for Google’s “mobile-friendly” label?

In order to be eligible to have the “mobile-friendly” label on your hotel’s search results listing, there are a few things that your hotel website must pass:

The site must not include features that are uncommon on mobile devices �" such as Flash.

Content and text font must be legible without the user needing to zoom in or scroll horizontally
Navigation must be simple enough for users to easily click on the correct link

Google mentioned that they are experimenting with using the above criteria as a ranking signal². Hotels should check if a page on their site is mobile-friendly, and can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool.

There are several ways hotels can optimize their website for mobile search and qualify for this new Google label:

1. Make sure you have a mobile strategy in place for your hotel or business �" whether it is a responsive/adaptive website or a separate mobile site.
2. Set up the hotel’s website so that mobile users are redirected to the mobile version or equivalent of its desktop webpage.
3. Focus on overall mobile usability of the site �" including content, navigation, conversion features, etc.

To learn more or get pricing on Milestone’s mobile website and marketing services, click here and fill out our RFP.

Contributed by:

Teresa Villaruz, Sr. Marketing Manager
David King, Director of Business Development

Sources:

1. What Are The 10 Most Important Mobile Search Statistics? [Infographic]:http://www.dr4ward.com/dr4ward/2014/05/what-are-the-10-most-important-mobile-search-statistics-infographic.html
2. Helping Users Find Mobile-Friendly Pages: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2014/11/helping-users-find-mobile-friendly-pages.html