According to Google, cost per clicks for Google Adwords for the 3rd quarter were down by “approximately 15%” and year over year advertising revenue growth rates declined from 21% to 16%. Industry analysts are placing the blame for slowing ad revenue growth rates squarely on mobile search, which is said to monetise on average at roughly half the value of a desktop search.
The logic behind the lower monetisation of Google Adwords on mobile devices is likely due to the intent of the searcher. Relative to searches on desktop computers and laptops, a higher percentage of searches are done for local products and services (one in three mobile searches have location based intent). This means that people are after the most local, relevant results and we all know that if people can pay to appear then they may not be the most relevant results.
The upshot of this trend from an SEO perspective is that if a mobile search is monetizing at half the rate of a desktop search, then we can deduce that an organic search listing from mobile search has a greater chance of being clicked on than the same search executed on the desktop.
Decreased earnings for Google attributed to mobile searches indicates a big opportunity for businesses that have a local client base as mobile search volume is expected to exceed desktop search volume by the end of 2014.
So now is the time to optimise your online presence for local search results. Identify the search terms people are using for what you offer and optimise for those terms on a local basis. Start with your website, then make sure all of your other local resources are set up properly including Google Plus Local, local business directories like TrueLocal.com.au and even geo-tagged images on image sharing sites and videos on video sharing sites.
There is a bit of work involved but either you take advantage of the trend or your competitors will.
Of course, if you know you need it but don’t know where to start then contact us to see how we can help.
