Mobile SEO Kenya: A Mobile First Indexing Guide (2019)🥇

How To Do Mobile SEO in Kenya

 

mobile seo kenya - mobile first indexing guide

Mobile optimization created great turmoil in the world of marketing, and for a good reason. Marketing professionals in Kenya wanted to know how Google’s algorithm would change SERP rankings (search engine results page).

It meant that Google will consider websites compatible with mobile devices first when deciding how to rank the content. If your site has a mobile or responsive design version, Google may classify it based on the performance of its website on mobile devices.

Google is taking mobile sites more seriously, don’t you think? You should consider this mobile SEO kenya guide to build right mobile SEO strategy in 2019.

After all, if you want Google to show your content to users, you should know how Google tracks and evaluates your website. Otherwise, you stay behind your competition.

It is important that you have your website optimized for mobile.

Table of Contents

What is Mobile First

Major Changes in Mobile First Index

Mobile SEO Kenya

Why Mobile SEO in Kenya is Important?

Optimize Your Site for Google’s Mobile-first Index

Specification of Mobile SEO Kenya

Mobile Optimization as a Competitive Advantage

Google Mobile First Index Best Practices

Prepare for Mobile-first Indexing Kenya

Meta Tags for Mobile Devices

Configure Structure Data

Use Expandable Content

Optimize Your Website

Meta Descriptions Length

Mobile First Design

Avoid Intrusive Interstitials

Avoid Flash Video

Better User Experience

Accelerated Mobile Pages

Mobile-first Indexing & SERP Ranking

Google Ranking Signals

Conclusion

What is Mobile First & Why It’s Important?

what is mobile first design

Mobile first has become a trend within the UX design & development communities. Mobile First is Google’s algorithm to track websites and improve the experience of users who surf the internet. Mobile first means creating an online experience for mobile before designing it for the desktop Web or all other device.

The tendency is for mobile devices to remain the most used in front of computers to view online stores, web pages.

It is necessary that the mobile experience is unbeatable, that the loading speed is optimal, that the source code of the web development is for mobile and Tablet. This will reward us in the search results.

In the past, Google.co.ke only considered the desktop version of a website when sorting and crawling pages or simply Desktop SEO. That is no longer the case.

Since mobile device users spend twice as many minutes online as desktop users, Google understands the need to provide users with better content. That’s why your design must be Mobile friendly.

Also Read – SEO Glossary: SEO Terms & Definitions

Major Changes Made by Google in Mobile First Index

The search engine will incorporate more websites now in the SERPs.

If your kenya based site is not Mobile First, problems are likely to start.

The point here is that Google has made some changes regarding how it indexes pages:

Distribute the largest amount of content compatible with mobile devices to people on smartphones, tablets and similar devices.

For websites in the implementation, Google will display the mobile version of a website if it exists in a different URL (for example, my website instead of your website).

Websites with built-in dynamic services will have their pages suitable for mobile devices for mobile users.

Google will choose sites compatible with mobile devices through AMP sites.

Mobile Search Engine Optimization or Mobile SEO Kenya

prepare for mobile-first indexing Mobile SEO Kenya

The arrival of smartphones has allowed the internet to become more democratic and to impose itself in the daily lives of consumers. As a result, brands are now forced to integrate mobile into their digital strategy to ensure ever more optimal visibility. It also allows them to be in tune with the expectations of their target.

Thus, the mobile SEO Kenya corresponds to the actions implemented to optimize the positioning of an application in SERPS in Kenya(app indexing); an optimized site “mobile-friendly” or “responsive design” – which means it is adapted to different screens: smartphone, tablet, computer – in the search results of Google or application stores (Google Play and AppStore).

And as Google is now promoting sites accessible from a mobile, this SEO has become essential for your site! For this you can avail services of a Best SEO Company In Kenya

Why is Mobile SEO in Kenya is Important?

In short: the number of mobile searches has exploded. 58% of all searches on Google are now done from a mobile device.

And this trend is growing rapidly. According to Google, there are 27.8 billion additional requests made on the mobile rather than on a desktop.

Few other Stats for Mobile Searches on Google

-60% of Google searches are done via mobile devices. Only 5 years ago, the figure was nearly half that—34%. (Statista)

-Google captures 95% of the mobile search engine market in the U.S. (Statista)

-Roughly a third of all mobile Google searches are related to location. (Blue Corona)

-65% of clicks on paid Google search results come from mobile devices. (Statista)

-The average CTR for a Google search ad on mobile is 4.1%.

-42% of mobile-driven brand interactions involve Google search. (Blue Corona)

-Mobile users’ interest in places that are currently open has tripled since 2015. (Blue Corona)

-Mobile search queries are practically as long as desktop search queries. (Moz)

Needless to say, mobile is the future of SEO in Kenya. And that’s probably why Google is reviewing its entire algorithm to focus on mobile searches.

If your site is already well optimized for search engines, then there are few of things which you can amend on your website to optimizing for mobile devices and Google’s move to mobile-first indexing.

Optimize Your Site in Kenya for Google’s Mobile-first Index

Several possibilities are available to optimize your website for mobile.

Responsive design: your website automatically adapts to the size of the screen used thanks to your URL and an HTML code.

Dynamic delivery: like responsive design, your URL does not change but the HTML code is distinct depending on the device used by the user. The web server detects the device and adapts the content according to it.

Separate URLs: This solution is to create a mobile-specific website with a different URL and HTML code from the desktop site.

Also ReadGoogle Ranking Factors 2019 [Resources] – A Kenyan Guide

Learn Mobile Optimization Specification of Mobile SEO in Kenya

Even if mobile SEO follows the same rules as SEO or local SEO, quality content and backlinks, information tags, domain authority, keywords, etc. There are still some differences:

Mobile optimization goes through design.

The loading speed of the site is important since it is necessary to optimize the images, to simplify the design, the menus with the display, etc.

The user experience includes adapting the size of contents, images, titles, fonts and more.

Mobile Optimization as a Competitive Advantage

With the growing development of search volume from a smartphone or tablet, Google Kenya has improved its SEO algorithm. Indeed, the latter now takes into account websites optimized with a mobile version and improves their positioning in search engine.

Be visible from a mobile phone or tablet and reach a very wide audience

Have an undeniable advantage over your competitor

Adapt to new user habits

Google Mobile First Index Best Practices

How Does Mobile-First Indexing Work

Google tells us that it uses a bot with this it will help to identify the websites that follow the best mobile practices and, therefore, are more suitable for their results.

However, if you have multiple URLs for mobile and desktop devices, Google wants to deliver the mobile version to users of smartphones and tablets. They will see the content in the SERPs as defined by the mobile version of your site, such as your title, URL extension and meta description.

Mobile First Indexing Kenya – Best Practices 2019

Let’s see how you can prepare a solid strategy for the mobile first optimization. A digital marketing agency in Kenya can help you out with this. Preparing in advance can make your site be rewarded with the first results.

To make this happen:

Add XML and media maps

XML and HTML sitemaps have been around for many years. They allow your website to tell Google when you publish new content, which theoretically makes its newer pages index faster.

Media sitemaps are the same as XML, except that they include other media than text, such as images and videos. Many websites have pages attached that include only the media, and Google can index them too, if you want.

If you are a WordPress user, the easiest way to generate an XML and multimedia site map is to install the Yoast plugin. Automatically create site maps so you don’t have to worry about code or other details. In addition, it also includes media sitemaps.

But what makes a website mobile friendly or how to make a website mobile friendly? And how do you know if your website is ready to be Mobile First on Google?

We are going to tell you so you can establish your digital marketing strategy in Kenya which also includes email marketing and putting digital marketing tools for small business to good and effective use..

Also Read13 Common Technical SEO Mistakes You Cant Afford To Make In 2019

How To Prepare for Mobile-first Indexing in Kenya?

One of the biggest mistakes designers make when trying to create websites compatible with mobile devices is to disable certain content in the mobile version. Do not do that, on your website.

Mobile users want as much information as desktop users acquire. They are interested in text, images, videos and other media, so do not remove them from your mobile site.

Instead, focus on creating high-quality content that each search engine demands. Delve into specific topics, use the media to illustrate your points and optimize your metadata, which we will analyze below.

The mobile index should not have any impact on the length or quality of your content. Even the smallest smartphones are big enough to read an article, so don’t deprive those users of your careful prose.

Using Metadata or Meta Tags for Mobile Devices Kenya

Think of metadata as a way to communicate with users and search engines. There are many different types of metadata, and you need to make sure they are optimizing the right ones.

First, their titles and meta descriptions must match on mobile and desktop devices. These are the two main pieces of information that a search engine sees when landing on a Google SERP.

If a user searches on the mobile, they should see the same.

The images also matter. Make sure that each image you upload on your site has an alt attribute.

If you use WordPress, you don’t have to worry about coding. Simply click on the image you want to change and select the pencil icon to edit it. You will see a form field for the ALT text. Fill it with keyword-rich content.

Configure Structure Data on Your Site for Mobile First Indexing

Structured data helps explain to Google what your website contains. For example, you can use structured data on a recipe page to communicate the necessary ingredients, cooking time and other information.

There are thousands of options for structured data, but you don’t have to use them all. Apply them when they help search engines and, by extension, Google users, find your content more easily.

You can find tons of information on Schema.org structured data implementation and what types will be most useful for you and your website visitors.

The important thing that you should remove from the structured data on the mobile index is that the marking of your scheme must be the same in both versions of your website.

If you have a separate mobile URL, be sure to add the outline markup that exists on your desktop site and vice versa.

Use Expandable Content for Google’s Mobile First Index Kenya

At one time, the “hidden” content was a great Black Hat SEO technique, such techniques no longer work in Kenya. However, hidden content can help improve the user experience of your website and make your site more mobile. Specifically, we are talking about expandable content.

You’ve probably seen it on dozens of websites. Some designers call it accordion content. It is the type of content that has a title that you can click to further expand the content.

Mobile Optimization is important for the mobile index. Think of mobile devices. They are smaller, and the displacement has a cost on tired fingers.

By introducing expandable content, you reduce the work that your visitor must do to get the information he needs.

Optimize Your Website for Mobile First Users in Kenya

optimizing your site for google's mobile-first index - Mobile Seo Kenya

Site speed matters regardless of how your site visitors find you or what devices they use. However, it matters even more on mobile.

Now speed has been used as one of the top ranking factors by google. Optimizing page speed can help you reach maximum audience in a short span of time as well as earn high mobile search ranking.

When people are away from home, they are often in a hurry. They want the fastest way of their question to a possible answer.

They may be looking for a place to eat, instructions on how to remove the plug from a pipe or something else by complex. If the matter is urgent, they will not wait for your slow website to load.

Google offers a PageSpeed ​​Insights tool that will tell you how long your website loads on your desktop or mobile. Simply connect your URL in the box and wait for the response. Cross your fingers!

We particularly like to use GTMetrix, Pingdom Tools, it allows us to draw our own conclusions.

They will even tell you what you need to fix to make your site faster.

Also Read Ecommerce SEO Kenya –  How To Drive Organic Traffic in 2019 [In-Depth Guide]

Title and Meta Descriptions Length for Mobile First Index

Do you have the vast majority of your mobile organic traffic? Then you can optimize your title and description tags specifically for mobile search results.

Here’s how: Google gives you more title tag characters on mobile. But your meta description is shorter. Here is the exact breakdown:

Desktop – Title: About 70 characters

Description: About 300 characters

Mobile – Title: About 78 characters

Description: About 300 characters

In other words, if your title is 69 characters or less, it will not be cut on the desktop or mobile. But perhaps you would like to expand your title tag and take advantage of this extra weapon even if it pushes you to the desktop character limit.

It’s 66 characters. This title will be displayed entirely on the desktop and mobile. But let’s say you wanted to use a word or phrase that would increase your CTR.

78 characters means Google will truncate your title tag on desktop searches. But this will be very effective on mobile. But if desktop searches are only a small part of your traffic? It may be worth it.

What is Mobile First Design & It’s Importance

A “top-down” development approach means that you take into account all the potential consequences of every decision made in the design, from beginning to end.

You develop for the mobile-first, rather than for the desktop, then next for mobile design. This development approach is ideal because you do not introduce problems into the final design.

Here’s an example: you create a desktop website. About three-quarters of the process, you decide that you want to create a mobile site on top.

You create the model. But after coding the model and going through the transitions, you find a bug here and there. Indeed, the bottom-up approach does not work and causes a scope creep.

This is the phenomenon where unprecedented problems arise at the last minute, causing unexpected bugs and increases in hours that were not actually planned during the implementation of the project.

In fact, if the top-down approach for the mobile adaptive design was taken into account from the beginning, these bugs and problems to be solved would not happen at the end, which would cause this formidable problem.

Avoid Intrusive Interstitials on Mobile First Site

In 2017,  Google has implemented  its mild sanction for what they call “intrusive interstitials.”

In simple terms, it means popups. Here are some examples directly from the horse’s mouth.

Basically, displaying pop-ups on your web pages on mobile devices is very detrimental to the user experience because visitors can not access the content they clicked to view. To combat this, Google penalizes pages containing popups by reducing their rank in searches, in order to discourage Internet users to add popups to their sites.

The simple solution? Disable popups on the mobile. Seriously – just turn them off.

Apparently, some pop-up windows triggered by users, such as a click or click pop-ups, are not penalized – but we cannot find any place to confirm this.

If your popup is important enough, add the content in a section of your page, in your content (or even above the header). This will prevent Google from penalizing the search ranking of your site.

Avoid Flash Video on Your Mobile First Website

Indeed, it is not possible to view the Flash on a mobile device (Smartphone or tablet). So if a user visits the website of your company with his mobile phone he will not be able to access the content. He will see only a sentence telling him to download the necessary software, an action he cannot perform and he will decide to go see the website of your competitor (which may be compatible).

Even if you think it is “beautiful visually” with the animations that Flash technology can do, it will not be properly navigable for your potential customers, will not exist on mobile devices and worse will be very difficult to be correctly referenced on the SERPs.

Mobile First Approach for a Better User Experience

Try to visit your website on a mobile device. Imagine that you are not the owner of the website, but a potential customer.

Visit several pages

Try using the search function

Press the navigation icons or text

When you find an obstacle, take note. For example, navigation links must be large enough on the mobile so that people can touch them accurately.

Accelerated Mobile Pages: Are They Worth It?

what you need to know about accelerated mobile pages

AMP, or accelerated mobile pages, are a way to make your site more accessible to mobile users. If you haven’t set it up yet, now is the time.

There is an AMP WordPress plugin that simplifies the creation of AMP pages. Install the plugin and follow the instructions.

Google will handle your AMP pages in different ways.

If you have AMP and non-AMP versions of your website, Google will generally index the version that is compatible with mobile devices and not AMP. It’s better this way. That also means that Google will use the non-AMP URL in the SERPs.

However, keep in mind that this could change as AMP becomes stronger and more websites use it. Having AMP as an option on your site will prepare you for success, no matter how Google’s first mobile index changes beyond 2019.

Many people react to Google’s changes and often panic. A better approach is to analyze the reasons behind Google’s decisions to find out where the search engine will go next.

At some point in the future, the ease of mobile users will have a big impact on the rankings. Start preparing for that now.

Let’s answer some of the questions we hear most frequently about the first mobile index.

Mobile-first Indexing Will Change Your SERP Ranking

 

improve your rankings with mobile-first indexing

A mobile site is a separate website designed for mobile users. It usually has an “m” at the beginning, followed by a period and its URL.

Receptive design is a way to offer the same website to desktop and mobile users. Adjust the design and text to fit the screen size.

Responsive design is probably the way to go, since, as mentioned earlier, Google wants to offer the same high-quality content to mobile users as to desktop users. If you don’t want to update your mobile site, you can slide into the rankings.

However, at this point, it does not matter from a classification point of view.

 

Google Mobile-first Index Ranking Signals

Google will continue to obtain ranking signals from desktop websites that do not have a mobile version, a responsive design or AMP. However, websites that are compatible with mobile devices will provide their ranking signals from their mobile sites.

Conclusion

Google wants high-quality content. It also wants websites that look good on mobile devices.

With this in mind, continuously improve the user experience on the mobile so that visitors to your website do not encounter any obstacles.

If you have problems, the best thing you can do is contact DimeHub known as one of the best digital marketing agency in kenya, will explain the problems you have.

Our SEO consultants at DimeHub will guide you through the changes you must make.

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