Some initial explorations of how to optimize for local searches in iOS9 including Siri, Spotlight Search, & Mobile Safari.

1. iOS9 Search:
#SEODifferent
Local Search Advantage Workshop
SMXEast 2015
Andrew Shotland
LocalSEOGuide.com
@localseoguide

2. www.localseoguide.com @localseoguide.com
About LocalSEOGuide
2
10 Years of Enterprise & Multi-Location SEO

3. Goin’ Mobile
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4. We Apps…😻
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5. http://applemapsmarketing.com/2015/06/61-of-u-s-iphone-owners-use-apple-maps-comscore/
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6. Apple’s Local Search Evolution
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7. SEO Environment has Changed
Moving from Desktop  Mobile  Apps
1. Mobile Web SEO Optimization
2. Apple Store & Android Play Store SEO
3. Google & Facebook App Indexing SEO
4. New: iOS Search SEO
Google App Indexing Facebook App Links

8. iOS9 Search: Siri
• Apple Maps
• Bing Search
• App-Specific
Commands
– “Open”, “Play”, “Call”,
etc.
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9. iOS 9 Search: Safari
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• Apple Maps
• App Content
• Suggested
Websites

10. iOS9 Search: Spotlight
• App Content
• Websites
• Bing Search
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11. Two iOS Search Indexes
Applebot crawls + Standard markup User-created content/engagement
with apps on user’s device
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12. Breaking Down iOS App Search
Features
3 Core APIs
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13. - User Activity: Reviews, ratings, check-in’s, pageviews, etc.
- Viewed app content can be eligible for public indexation on app Spotlight
& Safari search
- Each activity has attributes & meta data
- Can designate activities to be publicly available
- Each activity has meta data
- var title
- var keyword
- var contentAttributeSet
- var expirationDate
- var webpage URL
- CSSearchableItemAttributeSet? Could contain:
- contentDescription
- thumbnailURL & Data
- City, Province, Latitude Longitude
Features
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14. NSUserActivity
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15. - Unique image on each item
- Don’t use app logo as a thumbnail for all items
- Minimum Size 180 X 270 pixels
- Square of Circular Image 180 X 180 pixels
Image Size Recommendation
Model Minimum Image
Width
Minimum Image
Height
5s & earlier 40 px 60 px
6 & all iPads 120 px 180 px
6 Plus 180 px 270 px
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16. - Title
- Based on the screen size of an iOS device, a long title can get
truncated, so it’s best to limit your title to 90 characters.
- Description
- As with titles, long descriptions can also get truncated, so it’s
best to limit your description to 300 characters.
Title & Description Recommendations
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17. - UI & Server Recommendations
- No interstitials
- Performance
- Take user directly to content
UI & Server Recommendations
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18. - APIs that help you add app-specific content to the
on-device index and enable deep links into your
app.
- API that adds content index for:
- Only on devices with the app installed
- Can add, update, delete from index
- Batch update is also available
- Index can be loaded at anytime when you load
the app
- Recommended to only contain a few thousand
items
- This API is not dependent on user activities
Features
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19. CoreSpotlight
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20. - Web markup lets you make your related web content searchable and
helps you enrich the user’s search experience.
- Used to enable App Search:
- Need to allow Applebot to Discover the Website
- Ensure there is markup for Deep Links in Website
- Enable Deep Links handling in App
- Structured Data Markup is Strongly Recommended
- Universal Links:
- The universal links replace deep links with better security features
and easier development between apps.
- Unclear if these URLs are trackable.
Features
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21. - Focus on Schema.org Microdata
- Aggregated Ratings
- Offers
- Organization
- PriceRange
- Recipe
- Accepting OG Tags
- Og: Image
Structured Data Markup
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22. User Activity + App Content Indexation + Web Markup
= Relevance Score
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Engagement Ratio = New BackLink?

23. Spotlight Search Algorithm Test
• Enter query
• Click on first Best Buy Locator
result
• Repeat query
• Record rankings
• Click on first Best Buy Locator
result in “pack”
• Repeat
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24. Query = “tv”
Result # 1 2 3 (Accidental
Click on Contacts)
4 5
1 1 App Xfinity TV
Go
1 App Xfinity TV
Go
1 App Xfinity TV Go 1 App Xfinity TV
Go
1 App Xfinity TV
Go
2 3 “TV” Contacts:
Tim Villaneuva,
Amy Vernon?
3 “TV” Contacts:
Tim Villaneuva,
Amy Vernon?
3 “TV” Contacts:
Tim Villaneuva,
Amy Vernon?
3 “TV” Contacts:
Tim Villaneuva,
Amy Vernon?
3 “TV” Contacts:
Tim Villaneuva,
Amy Vernon?
3 3 Apple Music
“Townes Van
Zandt”
3 Apple Music
“Townes Van
Zandt”
3 Apple Music
“Townes Van
Zandt”
3 Apple Music
“Townes Van
Zandt”
3 Apple Music
“Townes Van
Zandt”
4 1 Podcast 1 Podcast 1 Podcast 1 Podcast 1 Podcast
5 1 iCal event 1 iCal event 1 iCal event 1 iCal event 1 iCal event
6 3 BB 3 BB 1 iMessage 3 BB 3 BB
7 1 iMessage 1 iMessage 3 mail 1 iMessage 1 iMessage
8 3 mail 3 mail 2 Notes 3 mail 3 mail
9 2 Notes 2 Notes 3 videos 2 Notes 2 Notes
10 3 videos 3 videos 3 BB 3 videos 3 videos
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25. Query = “appliance”
Result # Query #1 2 3 4 5
1 2 suggested
websites
1 BB 2 BB 3 BB 3 BB
2 3 maps 2 suggested
websites
2 suggested
websites
2 suggested
websites
2 suggested
websites
3 1 podcast 3 maps 3 maps 3 maps 3 maps
4 3 mail 1 podcast 1 podcast 1 podcast 1 podcast
5 3 BB 3 BB 3 BB 3 BB 3 BB
6 Wikipedia 3 mail 3 mail 3 mail 3 mail
7 3 Bing Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia Wikipedia
8 3 Bing 3 Bing 3 Bing 3 Bing
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26. Spotlight Search Algorithm
• The app must contain the keyword or some close
variation to rank
• The more you use an app the more likely it is to
show up, regardless of what you use it for
• The more common a keyword the more likely
irrelevant results are to rank
• Content/engagement ratio appears to be a non-
factor at the moment
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27. How Yelp SPAMs Spotlight Search
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28. Near Term Considerations
• Make sure your business data is up to date on Apple Maps
• U.S. Data Providers:
- mapsconnect.apple.com
- Axciom
- Booking.com
- Factual.com
- GasBuddy.com
- GreatSchools.com
- Neustar Localeze
- TripAdvisor.com
- Yelp.com
• Start out with a big app index for Spotlight. Avoid indexing low search value URLs
• Add schema markup to web pages
• Test aggressive tagging
• Focus on user engagement with your app & presence on highly engaging third-party
apps
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29. Further Reading
• AppleMapsMarketing.com
• iOS App Search Programmer Guide
• Yext:Optimizing Local Search for iOS9 (reg req’d)
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