Working in digital marketing you have to keep on top of the next big thing and mobile search, or advertising is expected to be huge!
Juniper Research expects mobile services will exceed £500 million by the end of 2008, rising to £3.8 billion by 2013. This growth is largely due to the increased capabilities and speeds of mobile devices, such as the Apple iPhone and also down to cheaper roaming tariffs on the network suppliers.
How can a business make the most of the mobile search market?
Stage 1 – A business has created a mobile version of their website.
This is quite common now, with a number of sites creating a simple site, with a lower resolution and much faster loading times. The site is very basic and offers the users only what they would expect to need whilst out on the go.
Ideally these are the sort of sites you would expect to rank very well in the search engines when users search using a mobile version of the engines, such as Google mobile, offering the company less competition as this is still within the early adaptor stage of the technology adaption lifecycle.
It is, therefore recommended that any business that feels a mobile strategy would benefit them begins to invest in a mobile website as soon as possible. To create such as site I would say you should invest largely in user experience, more so than website design, as a user on a small mobile device will need quick links and simple navigation, design is not particularly important.
Stage 2 – A paid search campaign is created
Paid search has the benefit of offering very quick results to the highest bidder. A mobile platform offers the added advantage of the ability to directly call the business. This could offer a service of cost per call or free calls or both. Potential the mobile paid results could link to the mobile site but also display a ‘call’ link. This link will allow your mobile phone to call the company directly. This could be offered as a free call service to the user, how this would be implemented is questionable but the option maybe available.
It makes sense to offer the user this ‘call’ option as navigating a mobile site can be difficult and time consuming, if the user is in a hurry, let’s say they need a train time table quickly, the mobile site may be difficult to navigate or slow to load. The call option offers the user a quicker option and an alternative to the phone directory services, moving the search engines into direct competition with these services.
Stage 3 – A local business result
The next step to paying for the traffic through paid results is to get it for free through natural search. However, from a user’s point of view they may be using their mobile phone to find a local business. The local business results in Google is a perfect example of how this works, the only difference being that the majority of new mobile phones have built in GPS, meaning Google already knows where you are.
I have Google Maps on my Nokia N95 and love it. I use it regularly for its directions and the built in GPS really helps. The next step is to include a search facility for local businesses. Google maps can then show local points that these businesses can be found, much like the online version allows on a computer. By clicking on one of these links it will show you the business details, (much like Google local). The business could then link to the mobile version of the site or have a phone number with a link that allows you to directly call the company from your mobile phone.
All these features are more or less already available. The mobile users want easy and efficiency, design isn’t that important due to the size of the screen. A mobile internet experience should be built around ease of use and, therefore, so should the business mobile site.
Mobile advertising is just around the corner and a mobile site strategy should be considered for the digital strategy of most businesses.
