Today’s update for the good of mobile search has marketers in full panic mode. It doesn’t get more serious than something called “Mobilegeddon.” But in your frenzied rush to fine-tune your mobile user experience for the sake of rankings, you might be missing the larger mobile opportunity.
Google’s update reflects the increasing importance of an optimized mobile experience. In fact, 60 percent of mobile consumers use their mobile device as their primary or exclusive internet source, and as of 2014, mobile has outpaced desktop for search. In case you’ve been living under a rock since February, here are the changes to come from Mobilegeddon:
- Mobile-friendliness will be used as a ranking signal: Mobile optimized pages will rank higher than non-mobile optimized pages.
- Information from indexed apps will be used as a factor in ranking for signed-in users who have the app installed: Content related to apps mobile users have installed on their mobile device will be featured more prominently.
It’s pretty straightforward, but if you think mobile is all about responsive design, you’re missing the bigger picture. Mobile implies more than tiny screens. The nature of mobile search is entirely different than desktop search, and you have to be thinking about your mobile conversion funnel in a new way. In case you have forgotten, the smartphone is a phone, and if you’re not taking advantage of its capabilities, you might be missing valuable conversions. For example, with 70 percent of mobile searchers calling a business directly from the search results (according to Google), you’re going to need a lot more than an optimized website to attract mobile searchers: you might just need to tap into the power of the phone.
Mobilegeddon may seem like the scariest thing to happen to search marketing in a long time, but if you are not thinking about the phone call when it comes to mobile, there are far more terrifying consequences awaiting you. Here are some examples:
- Terrible mobile conversion rates – According to SmartInsights, conversion rates on mobile are 45 percent lower than on desktops, and a responsive design isn’t going to save your conversion rates. Try giving your mobile audiences more effective ways to connect and get the answers they need with click-to-call.
- Annoyed customers – 54 percent of consumers say mobile website don’t provide enough information according to ExactTarget. This is the problem when you pair down your website to fit a small touchscreen. Give your audience an easy way to get all the information they want.
- Loss to the competition – Did you know that 40 percent of people have turned to a competitors site after bad mobile experience according to Google? Don’t drive away your mobile audience with inconvenient mobile webiste that don’t proved enough information and don’t make it easy to enage.
- Decline in sales – 61 percent of mobile searchers say click to call is most valuable in the purchase phase of shopping. Optimizing for mobile conversions often means encouraging customers to call.
- Lower click-through-rates – Google and Bing have both reported that ads with call extensions have four to eight percent higher CTRs. Looks like phone calls really are an integral part to a sound mobile strategy.
While everyone is worried about losing ground in the SERP rankings, there will be much bigger problems if you aren’t catering to a mobile audience with click-to-call. If you want to learn more about click-to-call and how it can boost your mobile performance, request a demo.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: 5 Things Scarier Than Google’s Mobilegeddon
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