Everyone Got An iPad For Christmas: Make Your Search Smarter!
Unless you have had your head buried in the sand on some tropical and deserted island (in which case, lucky you!), then you can’t have failed to notice the boom in ownership of mobile devices. Look around when you are on the train or the bus; most people will have a Kindle in their hand reading the latest bestseller, be browsing the Internet on their tablet or gabbing to a friend on their phone. Whatever their weapon of choice, 2011 was the year of the mobile device and it doesn’t look like it will be stopping soon.
- Image sourced from visual.ly/ipad-stats-and-accessories/ visit for the full infographic!
This is echoed in search results for big brands. Year on year, the number of people navigating to sites from mobile devices has increased dramatically, so much that now mobile searching far outweighs that of a desktop device, a more traditional way of searching.
Statistics published by Tecmark state that:
- In September 2009, mobile devices accounted for 0.02% of mobile traffic.
- In December 2011, this had grown to 12.59%.
So what are you doing to make your brand as accessible as possible for these customers finding you from their mobile?
On the whole, large companies aren’t doing a lot if statistics direct from Google are anything to go by.
- Image sourced from visual.ly/living-mobile-world/ visit for the full infographic.
Jesse Haines, Group Marketing Manager for Google Mobile Ads, told Mashable that a survey of major advertisers in early 2011 found only 21% had launched a mobile site at the time; a worrying statistic given the volume of people searching from these types of devices over the past year.
There is strong evidence to suggest that sites need to produce a mobile offering as search engines are stating that the sales of apps through the iTunes store are beginning to impact on rankings (Mobile Marketer, May 5th 2011) meaning that social acceptance and public opinion will be a ranking factor in your natural search results.
Results show that of the companies in the Prestige 100, few appear to be taking the steps needed to ensure that they are protecting themselves against the drop in traditional search. Of search results rendered on a mobile device, only 13% of these brands had links to any mobile presence in the first page of Google, with fewer than a quarter of the companies showing contact details or maps within this site.
So what can you do to optimise your mobile presence and ensure that you are making the most of the traffic from all those lucky people who got an iPad from the fat man in the red suit?
- Start by considering what your business goals are.
- Optimise your site for mobile. People viewing sites from mobile devices are usually lokoing for specific pieces of information, and won’t spend time trying to navigate your normal web page if it’s difficult to view. This is the forefront of your acquisition strategy.
- Image sourced from visual.ly/living-mobile-world/ visit for the full infographic.
- Optimise your main site for this boom in mobile users; improve the compatibility, ability to transact and search navigation to make sure your customers search is smooth. With a 5% conversion rate for purchase from mobile browsers, if you don’t you could be missing out.
- Cross link. There is no point having a fantastic app or Twitter following if it isn’t pushing traffic back to your main site.
- Reward loyal customers (who already know and love your brand) with a rich experience by developing an app! You need something that will be useful to your target market and get a good following. Think Yves Saint Laurent and their makeup app that allows users to try different colour palates and compile an online list. Provide rich media and a chance for interaction. Video content, GPS support and augmented reality add a new facet to their experience.
- Be Innovative: Spend the time to understand how to impress your customers. Offer personalisation with mini game elements, unlockable content and bookmarking opportunities. Find innovative technology providers who can do something new for your brand and your customers.
