Mobile Search is NOT the same as Internet Search
In early 2009, the Kelsey Group predicted that mobile advertising revenues in the United States are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 81.2%, from $160 million in 2008 to $3.1 billion in 2013. As more and more analysts echo this prediction, more and more marketing companies are beginning to take notice. Mobile search is one area that stands out as the most promising. But there is one thing that a company must remember before they enter into the mobile search venue. Mobile search is not the same as internet search. Here’s why…
There are many obvious differences between searching for something on the internet and searching for something on a mobile device. For instance, the form factor of the mobile interface differs greatly from that of a computer, and input methods can range from text to speech to pics. But the biggest difference between mobile search and internet search is the consumer expectations. When a consumer does an internet search for something from their computer, they could be researching anything from dinner reservations to the family vacation they want to take next summer to the new car they may never buy. However, when searching for something on a mobile device, the consumer is almost always looking for something immediately actionable. If they are searching for a sushi restaurant, it is probably because they are heading to lunch or supper and looking for a place to eat. If they are searching for a song they just heard on the radio, they likely want a link to download it quickly and easily.
Successful mobile search engines will return actionable items first, because that is what the consumer tends to want. Also, pay for click campaigns will become more and more important as location becomes another variable for search engines to use. From the marketing point of view, successful marketing campaigns make these actionable items easy for mobile search engines to find. And keep in mind that most websites today render poorly if at all in a mobile browser. Having a mobile suite that provides easy to read content along with easily actionable items is key to a successful mobile presence.
Mobile search can be a very promising tool… if used correctly. Make sure your venture into mobile search is a rewarding one, and don’t make the mistake of simply employing the same strategies you have been using for internet marketing.
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Comments
Apt analysis on the difference between actionable content and brochure-like, informational text. Can you point us to any resources (books or blogs) that discuss how to format actionable content to be identified as such?
Nicholas,
Great question. Most of the resources available today focus more on preparing your documents for display no mobile devices. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) publishes specifications for CSS and mobile devices.
However, that doesn’t really address how to format content so that third party search engines will able to identify and parse the information contained into an actionable item. There is really no universal standard, so it depend on the type of search engine you are targeting. For instance, if you want your business to show up with an actionable Click-To-Navigate when using Google Maps Navigation on an Android phone, then you need to register your business in Google’s LocalBusinessCenter.
Other strategies include optimizing a mobile web suite that contains easily formatted actionable items on the page itself. For instance, Click-To-Call is usually done as a widget that uses VoIP. You can find some nice examples and details here: http://www.voipuser.org/forum_topic_9971.html. Google had a Click-To-Call program earlier in the year, but the website has since been taken down.
Hope that helps and points you in the right direction.
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