Online Reputation Management Tools for Mobile

Most of us carry our phone around with us all the time (and even sleep with it next to the bed or under the pillow).  This reality–or obsession—that people have with their mobile devices presents a great opportunity for your business in the form of mobile marketing and search. 

But what if your online reputation is poor or has negative listings when someone searches for a restaurant on the corner using their phone?

Mobile search is a free-for-all now, so its good to be educated about how Google looks at searches, since its different for mobile sites.  The Googlebot-Mobile searches for content optimized specifically to be viewed on smartphones, for example. Here are a few key tips/tools to optimize your website for mobile online reputation management.

Optimization for Local Search

Half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices.  This means that your reputation can be seen right at the time of purchase for a user—while they are waiting in a store or on the street corner. But again, if you have a negative reputation, you could have just lost a very motivated buyer.

So, local terms and locations in general are becoming very important for searching, and specifically with mobile search. One thought to help your mobile reputation for a business is to include a neighborhood or street address in the businesses title.

Also, remember to use shorter, more concise search phrases when thinking about your reputation and how to correct it, since your user could be standing on the street typing into their phone or tablet. 

This helps them find the best things about you with minimal keystrokes.

Social Media Better for Mobile Search

Mobile search ranking is different than for desktops.  For example, reviews on sites such as Yelp or other social networking sites are more important for mobile searches.  inbound ranking is more dependent on social indicators such as. 

Remember, never create false reviews to boost your online reputation but be sure to encourage reviews, sharing and commenting.

Reviews from sites such as Yelp or Localeze can be a boost to your social proof, as can mobile search

Good Web Design Drives Traffic, Boosts Reputation

There are two thoughts about how to best approach mobile searching and thus, mobile reputations.  The first is to construct two individual sites: one made for your regular website and one created for your mobile browsing. Most people or businesses have created a separate site that is a scaled down version of their site for mobile viewing, created on a separate domain, such as on “m.yourdomain.com.”

The second approach has been to create separate PAGES for mobile users.  This would include scaled-down pages that  link the mobile site to the current site. Creating links  back to the full site improves the mobile users experience, as well as avoids possible frustration by not having content accessible to them.

Why is this Important for Your Online Mobile Reputation?

The most important reason is SEO boost is gives, and the more good information is spread about you the more the negative will be pushed down off the first page—the goal of online reputation management.

Thus, linking a mobile page to the full version gives both your user and Google access to what they want: good content, as well as more internal links which helps your page ranking, and thus your reputation.

For best optimization, keep the mobile site integrated within your existing site, and on the same domain.

Uniform Serving of Content on Mobile

Finally, Android devices serve up search results differently on mobile devices compared to desktop versions.   Each desktop Chrome user could be searching for the same exact search term but are presented slightly differently or with different items on top.  This is because Google is generating a search on what it thinks your like to see and it might be based on what you’ve searched for recently or what your friends are looking for.

For mobile users, this is not an issue: everyone sees the same think (unless they are signed into their Google account).  This is helpful to know when looking at your reputation, and provides a quick way to check what most people will be seeing.