How many mobile devices do you own right now? Recent statistics say that U.S. citizens have an average of 1.6 mobile gadgets in their possession. By the year 2020, this number will shoot up to six devices per person. If you’re looking at long-term goals for your website, this is an opportunity just waiting to be taken.

Many popular websites have already jumped into the practice of “mobilizing” – that is, to make their sites available to owners of handheld devices. And why not? Analysts say that the number of mobile phones will surpass the world population next year. Isn’t that a mouth-watering tidbit for website owners and online companies?

If you want to tap into the potentially lucrative business of mobile browsing, then you have to optimize your website for mobile devices. Let me share with you a few tips to get you started not only on your mobile site, but also on your success in mobile SEO:

1.  Create a mobile version of your website.

This is the first hurdle that you should overcome, and it’s a pretty huge one. Creating a mobile-optimized website could be difficult for some, and fortunately there are a number of USA SEO companies that can help you with this.

Of course, you can always do it yourself. You just have to be aware of a few things. First, mobile browsers have some limitations that might affect the way people see your website in their smartphones or tablets. For example, they’re smaller than typical browsers that you see on PC screens.

More importantly, search engines work differently on mobile. The spiders will look through your website if it’s already mobile-friendly. If they see that your website looks broken or is difficult to access on handhelds, then this will affect your ranking on mobile search results. This aspect of mobile computing should be infused into your plans to mobilize your website.

2.  Use the features of mobile devices to enhance user experience of browsing your site.

If you want to take the mobile experience one notch higher, make your website mobile-optimized. In contrast to making your website mobile-friendly to look great on tablets, mobile-optimized sites are those that use the features of mobile devices to enhance browsing. Some of the features that could improve your website include click-to-call functionality and a store locator using GPS.

3.  Know what people are searching in mobile devices.

Websites designed for mobile devices will really get the greatest benefits from mobile users, because they are in-tune with what people are looking for when using the handhelds. If you have products that appeal to people who are travelling or on the road, then make use of the power of mobile browsing to capture their interest to your website. You can even fine-tune your existing products and services to cater to these types of users, so that you can juice out as much search traffic from mobile users as you can.