Google's Slinger: Best Mobile Search Practices

Only 21% of Google's top advertisers in the United States have built a mobile-specific Web site. From those numbers it doesn't appear many are ready for the future. Back in 2010, Google said it would reach a $1 billion yearly run-rate for mobile. Now, Google is working with clients and developing ads products that will enable advertisers to make the most of mobile's unique properties. For Google, Mobile search has increased by 500% in the last year.

 

Having a mobile Web site isn't necessarily directly linked to performance for an advertiser. Campaigns can still be successful without mobile sites, they just won't be as successful with their goals once consumer gets to their site, according to Google. Advertisers experience, on average, an 11.5% increase in mobile Click-through rates (CTR) when they run a mobile-specific campaign, compared to their mobile CTR on a hybrid--mobile and desktop--campaign.

Consumers use smartphones nearly everywhere. 39% use a smartphone while going to the bathroom, 33% when watching television, and 22% while reading the newspaper, according to Google. It's apparent that consumers use smartphones as an extension of their desktop computers and as a tool to multitask. For instance, 81% browse the Internet, 77% search, 68% use an app, and 48% watch videos on their smartphone.

Heading into the Search Insider Summit, MediaPost spoke with Michael Slinger, director of mobile in the Americas at Google, to get a few details on best practices for setting up a mobile search campaign.

MediaPost:  What are the best practices for mobile paid-search keyword lists?

Slinger:  We're seeing tremendous spikes in volume in mobile search during lunch, evening and weekends, beginning Friday night and ending Sunday night. Design the campaign to support these times and days. Don't take a set of keywords used in desktop campaigns and run it on mobile. Brands will find keywords that won't necessarily convert on desktop, but will on mobile by setting up campaigns and running frequent tests. For example, we looked at top queries in August 2010 for financial services. One query was a word we didn't know. We figured out it was a six-letter acronym for a federal student loan program. It generated a lot of traffic on mobile, but not on desktops.

By running sets of desktop keywords and splitting them into separate campaigns -- mobile and desktop -- advertisers can compare the different keyword lists and see the performance of click-through rates on mobile vs. desktop. Test like crazy because 95% might overlap.

MediaPost:  Do broad, exact, phrase and negative match keywords apply on mobile?

Slinger:  Yes, start off by using the same method. Run the large keyword sets broadly, and run mobile separate from desktop. Also, think about how consumers should convert. Just because it makes sense on the desktop doesn't mean it will make sense on mobile. Think about defining the conversion. People don't want to land on a mobile landing page and do hours of research on a product because of the size. Think about whether the conversion is possible on a mobile phone and design the conversion goal around that. For example, Google built mobile-specific tools intuitive to a mobile format, such as click-to-call. If a search query occurs and one of the top results reads "phone now for more information," the consumer can get through the conversion with one click.

MediaPost:  How deep into the Web site will someone search if they cannot find information on the landing page?

Slinger:  If a Web site is full of Flash, for example, the consumer will have a bad experience. Most of the high-end phones don't support Flash. Apple doesn't support Flash on iPhone or iPad. Advertisers need to build out mobile-specific landing pages. When consumers search and click on a Web site, they don't want to end up with a cumbersome, non-conversion, unfriendly landing page. An optimized mobile Web site with buttons that read "Call now to buy" or "Click this button to complete the transaction on the phone" will help consumers convert.

MediaPost: What industry segments perform the best on mobile and does it correlate to a specific age group?

Slinger: We're seeing the strongest performance on mobile related to technology, retail, automotive, finance and travel. Those on the road will probably use mobile to find a hotel or restaurant, or car rental. We've seen that people who shop for new or used cars on weekends will use mobile search to find dealers to test drive the cars. In financial services, we see downloads of mobile banking apps and searching for car insurance. In retail we see people comparing products and reading reviews.

MediaPost: When will audio or visual search overtake typing in keywords? Will it influence paid-search ads?

Slinger:  The number of characters typed into a query search box on a mobile phone vs. a desktop is similar, but Google engineers and product managers wanted to make it easier by launching voice and visual search. On the Android operating system in the U.S., more than 20% of queries come from voice search. Nothing changes with the ad served along with the organic results, whether audio, visual or keying in the query drives the search.

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