This slide deck on Mobile Search Marketing was presented at SearchFest 2013 in Portland. Covering mobile search for organic search, local search and paid search as well as the mobile experience. Tips for Responsive Web Design SEO, mobile Google AdWords, sitelinks and more.
2. Just The Start
• Mobile search is
booming … and
therefor evolving
• Desktop factors, but
not a desktop screen
• Paid is at a big turn,
AdWords Enhanced
Campaigns
3. Mobile Search
1. Paid
+ Most control
+ Best real estate
2. Local
+ Most context
+ Best result
LOCAL PAID ORGANIC
3. Organic
+ Challenged
4. Mobile Search
Visibility Matters A LOT
-90% Google has outlined that
a drop from from the
1st to 4th position in
mobile ad SERPS can
mean a 90% CTR drop.
Only 3 to 4 “haves” and
the rest are “have nots”
6. @AaronWeiche
Mobile Search Best Practices
Organic Known Factors
• Mobile & Desktop are still very similar, so follow both organic ranking factors for
content and on-page optimization
• Google is feeding us that users want the same content, just a better experience
on mobile so chasing “mobile only” factors might be short sighted
• Access for Googlebot Mobile
• If you have a mobile site, make sure the m.domain.com robots.txt is in place, not
blocking the site … use of VARY HTTP header
7. @AaronWeiche
Mobile Search Best Practices
Mobile Site Approach
Responsive Advantages Parallel Mobile Site Advantages
+ User experience on all devices + Control the user experience
+ One URL, one set/version of content + Features just for mobile user
+ Links hit the same URLS + Better control over mobile SEO meta and content
+ Easier to maintain, one CMS + Better load time
BostonGlobe.com , Mashable.com Amazon.com , Ebay.com
Dynamic Mobile Site Advantages
+ Easier technical implementation
+ Better than desktop user experience
CNN.com , Zillow.com
8. @AaronWeiche
Mobile Search Best Practices
Future Factors
• Just how much weight: Responsive Website or Mobile site (m.domain.com)
• Links and activity from mobile social networks
• Mobile meta standard introduced, mobile rich snippets (PLEASE)
• SERP action success, clicks/touches and time on site
• Speed, always consider speed improvements
9. @AaronWeiche
Mobile Search Best Practices
Future Factors
Will the mobile user experience trump
many ranking factors?
http://www.brysonmeunier.com/mobile-icons-in-google-smartphone-results/
12. Mobile IS Local
Local searches make up
20% of desktop, that
jumps to 50% on mobile
All CONTEXT driven and
PROXIMITY might be the
greatest context in search
Mobile search results in
action, 70% within an hour
13. @AaronWeiche
Local Mobile Search
Local Ranking Factors
• Use David Mihm’s Local Search Ranking Factors report
http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml
• Pay attention to changes in SERP delivery, they currently
change often
• Device specific serps (smartphone and tablet)
14. @AaronWeiche
Local Mobile Search
Dominance
• Research and know the mobile
terms that can produce a top and
a dominant listing for you
• Pure local results on mobile
15. @AaronWeiche
Local Mobile Search
Directories
• Some directory profile pages carry significant
weight
• Yelp, Urbanspoon and Citysearch are most
common, especially Yelp
17. “Mobile ads are the
freaking bomb, they’re in
my pocket!”
-@w2scott
18. @AaronWeiche
Paid Mobile Search
Enhanced Campaigns
• Separate mobile bidding is gone! Yuck
• Mobile bids are controlled by % adjustment from desktop
• It is less work to build campaigns for mobile, but the fine
controls have been removed
• Sitelinks have more control, down to the ad level
• Call length and number information is now included
• Collection of blog posts by Luke Alley of Avalaunch Media:
http://bit.ly/GECresource
19. @AaronWeiche
Paid Mobile Search
Enhanced Campaigns
20. @AaronWeiche
Paid Mobile Search
Enhanced Campaigns
21. @AaronWeiche
Paid Mobile Search
Enhanced Campaigns
22. Sitelinks
I LOVE sitelinks
Customer service for
your mobile search ad
More characters, more
SERP real estate
Will better sitelinks=
better user adoption?
Granular reporting
23. @AaronWeiche
Understand the INTENT of the search, use sitelinks to meet the intent
SOCIAL PRICE DEFINE DO IT!
PROOF
OUCH
25. @AaronWeiche
Paid Mobile Search
Case Study
Dominate the mobile SERP Mobile
PPC
• Combine paid and organic
Example: 7 location auto body shop Organic
• 23.44% of their total clicks are mobile
• CTR for mobile ads is 3.17% vs. 0.95%
for desktop, 255.22% better
• Mobile clicks are 33.02% less
expensive than desktop clicks
($2.07 vs. $1.39)
• Mobile conversions up
26. @AaronWeiche
Paid Mobile Search
Locations
• Both Click to Call and directions sitelink
• Give a better EXPERIENCE to the user with
paid search over organic result
27. @AaronWeiche
Paid Mobile Search
Click to Call
• 52% of smartphone users have called after search
• Call extensions improve click through rate 6%-8%
• Enhanced now brings call reporting to all
Source: Google
28. @AaronWeiche
Paid Mobile Search
Landing Pages
Create visibility & show expertise
• Mobile landing pages have their own rules
• We create 2 versions – all (trust) and short
(simplicity) to test initially
• Test mobile landing pages
29. @AaronWeiche
Mobile Search
The Mobile Experience
30. @AaronWeiche
Mobile
Mobile Experience
The Search & Context The Mobile SERPs The Mobile Experience
“My need,
here & now” #1
31. @AaronWeiche
Mobile
Mobile Experience
Mobile Friendly = More likely to buy Mobile Unfriendly = More likely to leave
67% 61%
Source: Google
32. @AaronWeiche
Mobile Usability
The obvious goal is to create and
enable an experience, not limit it
Remove friction and simplify
Take advantage of intuitive device
experiences
33. Mobile Usability
Don’t just pair down, meet the
context of the mobile user
Fingers and thumbs
Use prior analytics to understand
importance, utility and needs
34. @AaronWeiche
Mobile Search Best Practices
Responsive Preferred
Both Google and Bing recommend
Responsive Web Design (RWD)
• RWD is preferred, but mobile sites work too
using Vary HTTP header
• Pierre Far of Google stresses the right build
over optimization – FOR NOW
https://developers.google.com/webmasters/smartphone-sites/
35. @AaronWeiche
Mobile Search Best Practices
Responsive SEO
• Less characters in the SERP displayed, more
consistently in the 50 – 55 characters in meta title
• Don’t change/shorten your headings
h1, h2, h3
• Speed of load, always optimize speed
• Allow the crawling of site assets (CSS, images, JS)
36. @AaronWeiche
Mobile Experience
Case Study
Addition of a mobile site increased
mobile traffic, page views, reservations
• Mobile traffic is up 45.5% in 2012 vs 2011
• Mobile menu’s out perform majority of desktop
pages in visits, TOS, entrance pages, bounce
rate
• Wine pairing feature provides utility for the
customer
• Mobile reservations up
37. @AaronWeiche
Mobile Experience
Subway
Great example of mobile
experience for numerous
locations
38. @AaronWeiche
Mobile Experience
lululemon
Great example of mobile
experience for e-commerce
39. @AaronWeiche
Mobile Search
PAID PAID
Summary of Mobile PAID PAID
PAID PAID
• The world of mobile search right now – Paid and
Local are your best options PAID PAID
• Research and know your wrinkles and
LOCAL LOCAL
opportunities LOCAL LOCAL
LOCAL LOCAL
• Ensure that once your result is clicked, it has the
ability to deliver with a great mobile experience
ORGANIC
• Don’t fall asleep at the wheel, it’s about to speed up