The Importance of a Mobile Search Strategy

Increasingly, mobile’s importance in our lives is becoming more evident. Our mobile phones can essentially be considered a permanent fixture of our daily routines. Can you leave home without it?

In conjunction with Nielsen, Google’s new report, “Mobile Search Moments: Understanding How Mobile Drives Conversions”, attempts to decipher what triggers people to do mobile searches and when, what actions follow as a result and how marketers can utilize this intelligence. This report explains the measurable connections between mobile searches and their correlated online and offline conversions.

What are the main drivers for mobile searches? Speed and convenience, with 77% of mobile searches performed in a location (work or home) likely to have a PC available to them.

Here are a few additional highlights from the report:

• 45% of all mobile searches are goal-oriented and conducted to help make a decision

• 81% of conversions (store visit, call or purchase) triggered by mobile search occur within 5 hours

• 55% of conversions from mobile searches happen within one hour

As a key factor in the decision-making process, a mobile search strategy is an essential piece of your overall marketing strategy.

What mobile search opportunities do you see for your business? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

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Image credit: Johan Larsson

Google Mobile Search via Handwriting Recognition

It is known that Google offers a few different ways to search including voice command to auto-complete.

The search giant is now introducing another search method – handwriting recognition. Still in the experimental stage, Google Handwrite will support 27 languages and will run on Android phones and tablets, and on iOS devices running iOS 5. Since it’s still in the testing phase, users will have to enable it within their settings to enjoy this new feature.

Searching via this method will allow you to scribble on nearly all of your phone’s screen space. The autocomplete suggestions will appear below the search box after a few letters, just as the typical search does.

Google Handwrite is intended to supplement the traditional keyboard. You can watch Mashable’s brief video about this feature to learn more.

It’s highly unlikely “handwriting” searches will consist of more than one or two words due to screen space. How do you see this form of query impacting a business’s website visibility in search?

Like this post? Connect with Erika Barbosa on Google+.

Image credit: photosteve101