Micro-Moments

We knew this was coming, but Google confirmed that more searches are conducted on smartphones than desktops and tablets in 10 countries. Google made the announcement official during a livestreamed event in which it introduced several mobile-centric ad formats and tools.

Google is developing a new portfolio of display ad formats and tools for advertisers to use across

its Google Display Network, AdMob network and DoubleClick services.

The company says they’re designed specifically for mobile.

Engagement ads leverage advertisers’ existing brand assets and repackage them into rich, media-centric HTML5 ads. One example that Google gave includes two states: a small “invitation” banner with a glimpse at the hidden media, followed by an “expanded” state (shown left) that includes a small carousel for switching between a related video, a map and an image gallery.

Google concluded that the linear path from discovery to purchase has been replaced with “micro-moments” in which we use our phones in bursts of activity.

• Time spent per web visit fell 18 percent as mobile’s share of web sessions has risen by 20 percent in the past year, says Google.
  
• “Near me” searches doubled in the past year; 80 % of those searches come from mobile
  

These is some of the changes instituted so far this year,

Cloud + mobile = supercharged growth for small businesses

India’s small businesses aren’t small when it comes to economic impact. They employ over 106 million people, make up almost a quarter of the workforce, and contribute close to half of the nation’s manufacturing output. As the country looks to drive growth, create jobs and increase exports as part of the Digital India initiative, we teamed up with Deloitte to see how cloud and mobile tools could help small businesses support these national goals, and the results are striking.

The new report, “Connected Small Business — UnlockingIndia’s digital potential” finds that businesses that use cloud and mobile tools are more profitable, more innovative, export more and have happier, more productive staff. Compared to offline businesses, those that use cloud and mobile tools grow 27% annually, are four times more innovative and are 65% more likely to be exporting.

Read More:

Reasons for you to go multi-screen

Mobile to overtake fixed Internet access by 2014  was a memorable headline a few years ago. We're passing the mobile tipping point and seeing a 70% year over year increase from AdSense impressions on mobile devices. This is just one reason why it’s more important now than ever before for your website to be multi-screen friendly. Here are a few more reasons why you should take an action now.
Read more

Mobile Friendly Web Design

Focus On Mobile Friendly Web Design

On April 21 Google is going to be rolling out a mobile optimization algorithm. According to Google’s "Zineb Ait Bahajji" from the Webmaster Trends team, this is going to be one of the biggest updates we’ve seen from Google to date in terms of how many people will be affected, bigger than Panda and Penguin, although no specific number was given.

While April 21 is the day that’s since been labeled the “Mobile-Pocalypse,” it’s important that small businesses start putting mobile best practices into action immediately. The efforts you’re making now will matter come April 21, and if you wait until just a few days before, it could be too late. Fortunately, Google is making this update very easy for us by telling us exactly what mistakes most businesses are making when it comes to mobile.

As discussed above, Google actually created a guide that outlines all of the most common mistakes that they find Webmasters make when they try and get their websites mobile-friendly. 

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Mobile SEO

Mobile-optimization will become more important.

Optimizing for mobile has been a significant priority for businesses in 2014, and 2015 will be the year that mobile strategies move beyond simply having a responsive site or mobile app, and focus on mobile-optimized content and social media marketing.

Google has been placing additional emphasis on how mobile-friendly sites are: mobile usability is now “relevant for optimal search results.” This emphasis is apparent in the recent launch of a new feature in Google Webmaster Tools called Mobile Usability, so, Mobile Usability Now a Search Ranking Factor?

In latter half of 2015 we will see many businesses finally incorporating mobile into all areas of their digital marketing: a fully responsive website, mobile ads, and separate content specifically for mobile website users. Businesses will also begin to realize the necessity of having a mobile social media strategy that considers how mobile users consume and interact with social media posts.

Mobile-first approach

Mobile is going to be more and more important as the time we spend on our mobile devices increases. Already now, you should have a responsive website in place, especially since Google has announced that it will prefer mobile-friendly websites in the SERPs. Mobile will be part of a more integrated approach, especially when it comes to marketing activities.

Many marketing leaders are advocating a mobile-first approach when creating content. Is not enough to just create an infographic and publish it. You have to take into consideration how this graphic will be displayed on smaller screens, or people will lose interest quickly if they have to keep zooming in and out.

Having content that is mobile friendly or creating a holistic mobile experience through an app are just a few options available for brands to engage their consumers on mobile.

The mobile experience

Mobile technology is finding its way into pockets everywhere, and people are becoming more comfortable with it as a means of searching.Forty six percent of searchers now use mobile exclusively to do product research, and the majority of mobile searches are local specific. Since users can search on the fly, they’re far more likely to make local searches. 
Google and other search engines are doing more to respond to this trend. They’re collecting more information about their users’ locations and search histories, and doing everything they can to give them local-specific results. That means, even if you have a huge national authority, you could easily get outranked by a similar company simply because of their proximity to the searcher.

Mobile Optimisation

What is Mobile Optimisation?

It means converting your “desktop” website into a format that can be read on any mobile device. It eliminates the need for zooming; gives easy access to contact information; and easy navigation to minimise hitting the wrong link.

Always ‘redy’ and waiting to be started, but mobile optimisation or a responsive site is fast becoming a must.

Mobile traffic are now bigger than desktop traffic. And we all knew it would happen, but now it is here. The majority of users will use more than one device to search, consider and purchase. The majority of these users will use more than one device within a 24 hour period.

Remember: You need to ‘be where your users are’, if you want to succeed on web. This doesn’t just mean social platforms, via remarketing etc. You need to be usable on mobile. Even if your site is specifically not designed to convert on mobile, users need to be able to use your site and find information to keep them on the path to conversion instead of getting frustrated and seeking out an alternative.

F. Eks: Google see having a non-mobile optimised site as providing a lower quality experience to the user, and they don’t like that. If you want to see your rankings improve, you need a mobile optimised site.

Google have a great little guide in their Developer section about creating mobile friendly websites which you can visit:   What is Mobile optimisation?