Shoppers Are Going Mobile, Are You Going With Them?

As Smartphone technology advances, more shoppers are using mobile capability to research purchases and find products.  But while users are keeping up with mobile innovation, it appears that this is not the case with online marketers. A recent Search Engine Land article reports that 79% of website marketers do not offer mobile-ready content, according to a recent Google survey.  In light of statistics revealed in a separate Google report on mobile use, serious opportunities are being missed by those marketers.

According the Google mobile use findings, among local information seekers:

• 79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping, from comparing prices, finding more product info to locating a retailer
• 74% of smartphone shoppers make a purchase, whether online, in-store, or on their phones
• 70% use their smartphones while in the store, reflecting varied purchase paths that often begin online or on their phones and bring consumers to the store

While mobile search is becoming more important to consumers, nearly 80% of marketers are missing mobile opportunities. Furthermore, the Google survey revealed that among 21% that have adopted mobile technology, most are only providing mobile-friendly pages through the home page. As the Search Engine Land article reports, this creates a problem in that most searches, ads, and social media links do not lead users to the home page, but rather, specific pages relating to the query. What happens when users try to connect the pages other than the home page? The article’s author reports that according to his own “Mobile IQ” study, among sites that were supposed to be mobile friendly:

• Amazon: 95% of pages requested fail to connect iPhone and Android shoppers with mobile content. 22% of pages fail to connect Blackberry shoppers to mobile content.
• Best Buy: 90% of pages requested fail to connect iPhone, Android, and Blackberry shoppers with mobile content.
• Staples: 98% of pages requested fail to connect iPhone, Android, and Blackberry shoppers with mobile content.
• Office Depot: 99% of pages requested fail to connect iPhone, Android, and Blackberry shoppers with mobile content.

If you are investing in website marketing, you will want to be sure that you are making the most of every opportunity, including rapidly expanding mobile opportunities. The World Wide Web Consortium has an online tool called W3C mobileOK Checker that can help you to analyze your website’s level of mobile friendliness. The mobileOK test results will reveal how effective your website is in several areas, and offer best practice suggestions for improvement.

Contact Upright to assist you in developing a plan for making the most of mobile search.