subject: Mobile Search Marketing - It's the Wild Wild West Again [print this page] Mobile Search Marketing - It's the Wild Wild West Again
Ok I'm just going to come out and say it - 2010 is the year of the mobile - at least in terms of using it as a viable marketing channel. The proof: in 2009 more internet enabled phones were sold than laptops. So consumers have the tools - we just need to use mobile marketing effectively and efficiently on behalf of our clients.
So what does that mean for Search Marketing. What is the lay of the land for mobile PPC and mobile SEO?
Mobile SEO seems a darker art than 'traditional' SEO - no one is really doing it. It's like the web in the 90s all over again - brands are building mobile sites but not considering how people will find them.
When creating a mobile site you need to optimise the on page factors just like with a regular website. Good coding and content relevancy is still very important. Ensure a link from your main .com site is put in place to pass on some link juice and then set up a traditional link building campaign but from other mobile sites, mobile directories, social networks etc.
To research keywords for popularity there is a real lack of tools in the marketplace. The Adwords tool is the best place to find keyword volumes to prepare your mobile SEO programme. Another option is to first set up a mobile PPC campaign testing for highest ctr and volumes and use the results to influence your SEO.
Forget the longtail (for now). People use less words when searching on mobiles (with way more spelling mistakes). Yes it's like the 90s the big keywords are 'free' & 'download' all over again!
Mobile PPC has some interesting new actions like 'click to call'. Also ad formats can be different, having less characters in text ads, but like on the traditional Google content network, banner ads can be served on a CPC basis.
You can target specific mobile networks and specific devices with your ad formats and messages. In the US you can download an app with one click.
Again the longtail isn't as pertinent in PPC - bidding on broad terms with a robust negative list is the best approach. Interestingly mobile web activity increases as people leave the office and at night, over PC based activity - when running a PPC campaign across both channels make sure you up your mobile spend after 8 pm.
So there are some principals we can take from traditional search marketing into the mobile space, but there are also a lot of new techniques and questions to consider. The lack of tools and apparent expertise in the marketplace coupled with those broad keywords makes it feel like the late 90s again...
