Android Apps: Businesses May See More Reasons to Develop than Ever Before

Google has announced a new search feature that will allow users to more easily find things on their smartphones. Whether you’re looking for a photo, a song, or a favorite app, this new mobile search will help find it, listing all of the above results in one place to make it easier. This will allow Google’s search to treat information inside apps the same way it treats web results, providing a more seamless experience.

How Google’s Move To Smartphone Search Presents A Valuable Marketing Opportunity?

By taking advantage of Android’s App Indexing features, a business can create an app with high visibility for those who download it. With the right design, an eatery could ensure that when a customer searches for a specific food item, its own menu selections appear prominently in search results.

This also increases the importance of content within apps, since searches will be based on keywords. Businesses may decide to include a latest news feature, an extensive “About Us” section, and even a recommendations section where one business recommends other local establishments that might be of interests to tourists and locals.

In addition to beefing up content in their own apps, businesses should also consider their presence in other apps. Even being mentioned on a site like Yelp or a local city guide could be essential for mobile search purposes. Since these apps are likely to reside on far more devices than a business’s self-made app, these mentions could help a small business reach a larger number of potential customers.

The key to searching inside apps is a modified version of the Googlebot software that constantly trawls the Web. This version uses a new variety of URL known as “deep links,” which point to places inside mobile apps and have so far been used mostly for mobile advertising (see “The Ad Industry Reinvents the Hyperlink for the Mobile Era”).

Searching on mobile devices has long been a hit-or-miss proposition, with users often unable to find the information they need. Instead of scrolling through pages of app icons, Google mobile search will let a consumer immediately find the information they need. Whether they want information on something or are interested in purchasing an item that you happen to sell, indexing will ensure mobile devices bring those customers directly to your app or website.

VIA