Cultivating Mindfulness, Peace, and Joy

Tag: Mobile

Nearly Half of Your Customers Leave Your Website After Three Seconds

Everyone knows mobile is not only the future, it’s right here and now, as over half of all website traffic on the internet is from a mobile device. Despite this, mobile is still in its infancy in some ways, as mobile sites lag behind desktop sites in crucial metrics such as average time on site, pages per visit, and bounce rate.

For retailers, this can be especially costly since 30% of all online shopping purchases now happen on mobile phones. The average US retail mobile site loaded in 6.9 seconds in July 2016, but according to the most recent data, 40% of consumers will leave a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. And 79% of shoppers who are dissatisfied with site performance are less likely to purchase from the same site again.

In other words, this:
mobile waiting

Leads to this:

mobile anger.jpg

Simplicity is key on mobile. You have lots of great things to say and to show your customers, but if they’re on a mobile device, they don’t care. They want a frictionless experience with as few clicks and clunks to get from your home page to their purchase as possible.

To learn more about mobile from Google, click here.

Google’s Biggest Update in 2016

Google rolled out a global update today removing the right-side paid search ads for most search queries. The update:

  • Removes ads from the right side of the Search Engine Result Page (SERP)
  • Adds a 4th ad to the top of the SERP for “highly commercial queries.”
  • Effects searches on desktop only. Mobile searches have never had ads on the right side as the screen real estate is much smaller.
  • Allows a maximum of 7 ads on the page.
  • Has one exception, Product Listing Ads (PLAs), which will continue to show at the top-right of the page.

minnetonka body shop

Much speculation is percolating as to why Google made this update, and what the downstream effects will be for advertisers. Some initial thoughts:

  • With less ads on the first page, it’s more important than ever to be at the top of Search Ads. What is your average ad position?
  • Not running a Search Advertising campaign? You should be. With 3-4 ads at the top and 3 Google Maps listings below that, your first chance at showing up organically is in the 7-8th position on Google (way “below the fold” on a mobile device). Positions 7 and 8 are earning 3-5% of clicks from the page. Is that an acceptable market share for your business?
  • Mobile is clearly the future as desktop search pages are now mimicking mobile.

 

Searches For “Businesses Near Me” Are on the Rise

Have you ever used your smartphone…

  • In line while waiting to check out at the grocery store?
  • On the couch while watching TV with a significant other?
  • Under the table at a meeting for a quick glance at a text or an email?

You have. Admit it. These moments, when we turn to our smartphones because we need something now, are called “micro-moments,” and they are a part of the new reality of consumer behavior. Google is studying these micro-moments. Closely.

This article from Google, http://bit.ly/1awkCsD, focuses on the “I-Want-To-Go Moments” we all experience. Have you ever done a search for “restaurants near me” or “closest salon?” These types of local searches are on the rise. Check out some snippets from the study.

  • “Near me” searches have increased 34x since 2011!
  • 80% of “near me” searches come from mobile (Q4 2014)
  • 50% of consumers who conduct a local search on their smartphone visit a store within a day
  • Most of these “near me” searches are generic terms like “hotels near me” rather than “Hiltons near me”

These types of searches aren’t limited to retail, either. It’s a growing trend for people to search for “jobs near me” or “remodelers near me.” These tiny moments are happening right out of consumers’ pockets every day, and some businesses are winning in these moments. Is yours?

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