If you are an online business owner and want to keep up with the most important changes in online business trends, then it is important that you get familiar with mobile website optimization and how it works.  According to Google, “by 2013 more people will use their mobile phones than P.C.’s to get online.”  This is a growing trend that is expected to continue well into 2015 and beyond.

So, what does this mean to you as an online business owner or marketer? Well, usually when a user is using a mobile device to get the information that they need online, they are usually need the information in a timely, efficient manner. 

Most users will expect their mobile experience to be just as good and just as fast as their desktop access.  When someone tries to access a website from their mobile device that has not been optimized for mobile, they often leave that site and try the next one.

This means that without mobile website optimization the potential of losing website visitors to your competition is very predictable.  This can leave a very bad taste in the mouth of your visitors and cause them to speak negatively about not only your website, but about your company as well.

How to Optimize for Mobile

The good news is that mobile optimization is not that all that difficult when you follow a few basic steps :

1. Have a separate mobile user website created for your users. This should include, at a minimum, iPhone and Android users. The menu options or navigation should be designed to give visitors quick and direct access to the key content or contact information that they are looking for.  The mobile website should also be designed to load quickly.

2. Create shorter versions of your main pages that are better suited for viewing on mobile screens.  This is where formatting is critical for mobile users because content will appear differently on a mobile device.  Titles and headlines may need to be shorten or re-written to accommodate the smaller screens.

3. Setup a separate marketing campaign for mobile users.  Allocate resources for growing your mobile marketing, support, and customer feedback.  This will allow you to track, do split testing and make tweaks and changes to improve your results.

Begin Your Mobile Website Project

By starting out small and improving as you go you will be able to take full advantage of the current and future growth of mobile phone users.  This is a trend that can have a significant impact on the success of your business and can put you ahead of your other online competitors.

The key to achieving the best results from your mobile website optimization efforts is to first make it a priority to create and implement a mobile website project, which should include identifying your target mobile users. 

Do research to learn more about what others in your market are doing that is working.  Implement your own mobile SEO strategy with an eye towards making it better than your competitions. This can help ensure that you maximize your return on investment as quickly as possible.

Try testing your website's currently mobile-friendliness by using the GoMo tool by Google.

For marketers and entrepreneurs alike, implementing QR codes is extremely easy and sometimes a great pursuit to improve profitability.

Creating QR codes are very low-cost, simple to create, and implement. QR codes are on the leading edge of business marketing, offering something new and innovative to enhance a business.

So Why Use QR Codes for Business Advertising?

Based on research conducted by Google, about 90% of all smartphone users are searching for a website or a phone number for something that they plan to act upon (or purchase.) This means that being ready for such impulse mobile searches can result in a better stream of business.

By the end of this year, Smartphone owners are anticipated to double. As a result, preparing your marketing strategies around mobile marketing is further essential. QR codes are quick and cheap way to start.

How to Use QR Codes to Advertise Your Business

QR codes carry a number of uses. They simply act as links and can direct smartphone users to just about any webpage or promotion. In fact, QR codes are common on basic materials and publications, such as business cards.

QR codes are said to increase the response rate of direct advertising campaigns. So for tangible retailers, placing QR codes in the store so that customers can easily view and scan them can really help promote certain products. This can help get rid of lingering inventory, among other things.

In addition, QR codes are very effective on print ads. This allows consumers to go from ad to webpage in a quick scan. Such "calls to action" are revolutionizing the way we do marketing.

The new version of Google Analytics has been available in Beta for some time. Now, the new Google Analytics platform has finally become universal to all accounts.

According to Google, there are several improvements in the new version's interface. In essence, the new Google Analytics provides a few extra tools that can help SEO professionals and Internet marketers realize many advantages.

Advantages of the New Analytics

The new Google Analytics interface looks a lot more "platform-orientated," and features a cleaner and less overwhelming look and feel. One of the greatest advantages to the new Analytics interface is the ability to keep a custom report open while viewing other accounts without returning the dashboard every time.

In addition, Google emphasizes three major improvements of the new Analytics: 

• A completely redesigned platform that offers significantly new functionality and features.
• A streamlined interface that makes it easier for users to access all the information they need.
• Faster and expanded reporting capabilities.

New Analytics Reporting Features

The new version of Google Analytics was designed to offer additional reporting capabilities for new marketing demands. Some of the new features of Google Analytics include:

Mobile Reporting

The number of Internet users that are searching from mobile devices is growing fast. The new Analytics offers a clear picture of how mobile visitors are interacting with a website.

This information is invaluable, for it allows marketers to determine just how mobile-friendly certain pages are on a website. Experts can gauge how mobile-friendly aspects of the their site are by stacking up metrics like Time on Site and Bounce Rate to how well a webpage appears from certain mobile devices. This can lead to opportunities for mobile optimization as well as mobile marketing.

Real-Time Reporting

The real-time reporting tool of the new Google Analytics allows you to view stats on what is happening at a certain moment on your website. Real-time reporting offers continuous updating, which can be very useful for Internet marketers monitoring campaigns live advertising campaigns. This allows for more timely executions of new ideas and strategies.

Flow Visualization

This newly designed graphic tool shows you exactly how your visitors navigate through your website. Before, it was a little harder to access this data, but with this feature of the new Google Analytics, the data is easier to visualize and understand.

The flow visualization allows you to see the journey your visitors took while on your website. Additionally, the data displays demographic information and the traffic sources of each visitor. This is an amazing tool for Internet marketers, because it will enable them to learn and better focus their efforts with respect to the nature of the market.

This new Google Analytics version is faster, more insightful, and much more intuitive than ever before. It represents an amazing tool for improving the Internet marketing strategies of a website, and it helps marketers get a deeper idea of their true customers.

You down with SoLoMo? Not sure what SoLoMo means?

SoLoMo Defined

SoLoMo is the new buzzword taking storm in the marketing world. It's a creative combination of marketing through Social, Local, and Mobile mediums.

It is a slight spin on the once popular "hyperlocal" SEO approach, but with a little social media blended in. SoLoMo shows great potential for businesses to promote their offers, and it's also an easy method for customers to get highly-relevant search results specifically for their local area.

SoLoMo Described

SoLoMo marketing is a novel concept of providing smartphone users access to locally-focused promotions and store offerings through mobile search based on their current location.

For example, if you are craving some Donuts while walking with your friends in town, SoLoMo-based apps on a mobile device can provide instant results and locations of Donut shops in your vicinity. In some SoLoMo apps, you can even see if your friends are available on the same location through Google Places or Foursquare's check-in system.

This is a very innovative way of connecting with customers in a more personalized and location-centric manner. It is also a great opportunity for businesses both large and small to promote offers, discounts, and coupons as customers seek the types of products and services they offer online.

FourSquare has an overall strategy of offering deals based on the geographic proximity of the customers using FourSquare apps for checking in to various location. They have multipronged approach of discovering what’s nearby based on local user's check-ins, and can offer discounts to incentives to loyal shoppers or those who are simply looking for a particular business. They implement cool incentives like free parking of the company's “Mayor.”

In summary, SoLoMo is a boon for businesses to offer deals for customers based on their social habits and local relevance - all by tapping into the intelligence of smartphones.