— Gary Chatham, President, Chatham Marketing
The importance of mobile search, and customers using mobile to research purchases continues to increase. Fully fifty percent of respondents said they use their mobile devices to start the search process; 46 percent use mobile exclusively when performing research online, according to findings in the 2013 Mobile Path-to-Purchase study by Telmetrics and xAd.
The study also shows that one out of every three respondents use a mobile device throughout the entire purchase process. In addition, sixty percent of smartphone users across the categories examined in the study – banking/finance, gas/convenience, insurance and retail in the U.S. – completed purchases related to their mobile activity.
Google’s New Multiscreen World study, showed similar stats when it came to how mobile plays into searches online. (The data showed a majority – 65 percent – of online searches began on a smartphone.)
Whether someone is searching on their mobile device for a restaurant, a local service, or a car rental, the presence of a click to call button increases click-through rates and brand perception, according to new Google/Ipsos research.
The survey of 3,000 mobile searchers who recently made purchases in seven verticals (Travel, Restaurant, Auto, Local Services, Retail, Finance, Technology) revealed that 70 percent of mobile searchers click to call a business directly from Google’s search results.
Across all seven of the verticals Google researched (Travel, Restaurant, Auto, Local Services, Retail, Finance, Technology), click to call, whether it appeared in the paid or organic results, was an important feature for people looking to find information and make purchases, Google said.
What does this mean for you?
First,being visable in the mobile search results is also crucial to attracting new customers, as well as being accessible to current customers.
Also, your web site must be optimized for mobile devices. If a potential customer has to “squeeze” the screen in order to read your site, you may have already lost the visitor and the sale.
Contact us for a no-obligation evaluation of your present web site, and search engine visibility.
