The search world was stunned recently when Google announced a major shift in it’s advertising mechanism for how the Adwords platform runs.
Just kidding. Stunned is probably a rushed word, but it did give indication as to where Google sees the future and if you’ve been hiding under a rock, it’s all about Mobile Search. We discussed a while ago that by the end of 2013, mobile usage will overtake desktop, which even now still seems unfathomable, alas figures tend not to lie. Even as I’m sat in my office writing this on a desktop (okay its a laptop) I still ponder how much mobile really will overtake! If I’m at home and I want to research anything of merit or significant purchase, I whip out my friendly laptop and search on a larger visual platform. It’s just nicer and I feel that I’ll get to my destination quicker.
So why is it all about mobile search? Google doesn’t want the user to feel put out in any way. It doesn’t want me to feel I have to pull out my laptop if I want to search for something, especially locally!! I should be able to get what I want just by sitting on my sofa using my smartphone and have a great experience whilst doing it. (how Google decides I’m having a good experience is another conversation) Thus, the main change in the way Adwords now works, is that you cannot separate any aspect of a campaign, i.e. you cannot just have a campaign dedicated to Desktop search. This shows a big shift in how Google is thinking of the future and adapting toward a mobile market.
Google say they have everything in hand and that integrating it’s campaigns in this way will actually streamline the process. You can still of course use the bidding feature, but in the new changes, you can optimize things a little differently, for example:
A coffee shop wants to reach people nearby who search for ‘Coffee’ on a smartphone. You can bid using targets such as:
- Bid 25% higher for those half a mile away
- 20% lower for searches after 6pm
- 50% higher for searches on a smartphone
As your friendly neighborhood SEO firm, we’re keeping everything under a microscope right now to watch for any changes and how our clients are being affected. One thing to be sure, is that you should definitely have a mobile version of your site ready to go. The changes are going to start affecting you over the next 3 months, so either having a mobile version of your site, or ensuring something called ‘responsive design’ is integrated into your account is paramount, otherwise you’ll be missing out and possibly wasting your money.
Responsive design ensures that your website is viewable no matter what device someone visits you from, i.e. Tablet, Smartphone or a 30 inch TV!! Of course if you need a mobile version, or responsive design installed onto your current site contact us here and we’ll be happy to help.
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