PPC Workshop:

Why Mobile is an Important Part of Your Paid Search Strategy

Presented by KeywordFirst

Mobile Search Overtakes Desktop*

•  According to BIA/Kelsey data, mobile search comprised 81.8 billion searches in 2015.

•  Alphabet (parent of Google) announced late in 2015 that mobile search overtook searches done on the desktop.

•  They expect to see a 23% increase in mobile searches and a decrease in desktop searches.

•  Those trends are expected to continue.

Why are Mobile Searches Increasing?

•  Ubiquity of mobile devices.

•  Growth of the Millennial generation.

•  There are now more Millennials than Baby Boomers.

•  Millennials have never known a world without readily available mobile devices.

•  They continue to rely on them as their method of choice for communication and connection.

What Does This Mean to Marketers?

Marketers who’ve paid little or no attention

to their customers’ mobile experience

or developing mobile-search strategies

must quickly re-think their mindset.

It’s All about the User Experience.

•  User experience is critical, especially given the lack of patience the Internet has created.

•  If a site doesn’t work quickly and seamlessly, visitors are only a back button away from checking out a competitor.

•  Once they hit that back button – whether because a site isn’t loading fast enough or it isn’t readable on their mobile device – you don’t just lose that sale. It could have a significant effect on the lifetime value of that customer or prospect.

How is Paid Search Affected?

•  It’s important to understand if your online experience is welcoming visitors or driving them away so that you can invest in paid search effectively.

•  The best way to do this is through an analytics package to understand:

•  The number of visitors your paid search campaign is driving to your website.

•  What they’re doing when they get there.

•  How many of them are converting to customers.

Make Sure You’re Hitting the Mobile Target.

•  Ad groups, keywords and analytics are basically the same for desktop and mobile.

•  Adjustments that may need to be made to optimize mobile include:

•  Ad extensions: for example, change from “click for more information” to “click to call” to capitalize on the ability to directly place a call.

•  Bid strategies: higher positions have a bigger impact on a mobile device. It’s best to be in the top three.

•  Web development strategy: check the key performance indicators (KPIs) you’ve identified for your analytics to ensure your mobile site is delivering the appropriate experience.

B2B and B2C

•  These strategies apply to both B2B and B2C advertisers because many B2B searches now begin on a mobile device – even if they’re ultimately fulfilled on a desktop.

•  A poor mobile experience may mean that the customers may never get to the desktop.

Summing Up

•  According to BIA/Kelsey and Alphabet data, mobile search overtook desktop with 81.8 billion searches in 2015, and this trend is expected to continue.

•  Mobile searches are increasing due to the ubiquity of mobile devices and the growth of the Millennial generation (now larger than the Baby Boomer generation).

•  Customers’ mobile experiences are critical since they’re only a back button away from checking out a competitor, which could have a significant impact on the lifetime value of those customers.

•  It’s important to implement an analytics package to understand if your online experience is welcoming visitors and converting them to customers or driving them away so that you can invest in paid search effectively.

Summing Up (continued)

•  Although ad groups, keywords and analytics mostly stay the same for desktop and mobile, adjustments that may need to be made to optimize mobile include:

•  Ad extensions: for example, change from “click for more information” to “click to call.”

•  Bid strategies: higher positions have a bigger impact on a mobile device. It’s best to be in the top three positions.

•  Web development strategy: check the key performance indicators (KPIs) you’ve identified for your analytics to ensure your mobile site is delivering the appropriate experience.

Mobile Search article “Succeeding in Search Today Means Hitting a Mobile Target” on The Social Media Monthly

See analytics posts on our FirstWord blog

Google Analytics tutorials

Contact: Mark Smith – See Mark‘s bio

Co-Founder, KeywordFirst Mark@KeywordFirst.com

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