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Episode #16 of Power to the Small Business podcast: Mobile Search
The Internet show about small business marketing.
On July 24th I stopped by SMX Local & Mobile in San Francisco and corralled Michael Dowd for an interview. Michael is manager of technology and mobile search practice lead for Outrider, a search marketing consultancy based in St. Louis. In this episode of Power to the Small Business, we look at the world of mobile search.
Is the search engine world already changing? Just as Google establishes itself as the monster of search, will it now have to conquer a new frontier? There are two different worlds of search: the PC and the mobile search space. While they may have similarities, they are not exactly the same. Listen to the podcast as Michael educates us on what you need to know about search in the coming mobile revolution.
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| Photo Credit: Flickr photo by Openkimia |
Guest: Michael Dowd of Outrider
Length: 22 minutes
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Press the play button on the player above and get started. Comments, questions about mobile search? Please share it in the comment section below.
Mobile Search vs. Traditional Search
Different ads and different organic search results show up in your mobile browser when you search. Meaning you can search a term in mobile and the same term from a PC and get different results and different ads. Usually, mobile optimized websites show up first in organic results. Non-mobile optimized sites are not given as much weight in mobile search.
Take a look and compare these results, for “men’s shirts” on my PC and on my Moto Q. I searched Google on both and got different results in both organic and sponsored links. Try the experiment on your mobile device.
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Pay Per Click & Search Marketing
PPC or search marketing works much the same way on mobile search as it does on traditional search. Now is a golden time to get into mobile search marketing. You can get in early and establish a high quality score because click-through rates should be higher.
Go into mobile search marketing with your expectations tempered. Advantages now are efficiency and low cost, but there just aren’t as many searches as traditional search. So for the next couple of years you may spend more manpower on the campaigns. But when mobile search begins to get populated, you will have established yourself.
To get started with mobile search, begin with the traditional powerhouses, Google and Yahoo, then start experimenting with other search engines. Yahoo has really been the mobile search innovator between the two, especially with the Yahoo Go product. Yahoo Go is a widget for your mobile phone that serves as the gateway to the mobile Internet.
Which Industries Need Mobile Search?
Just about every industry has a place in mobile search. No-brainers are automotive, fast-food chains, malls, grocery stores, anything with a store locater. Use mobile marketing to provide coupons and widgets to your customers.
Michael Dowd – Outrider
Outrider.com
Listen to all of our previous shows:
Power to the Small Business Archive
Related information on mobile marketing:
Is your website prepared for the mobile revolution?
Mobile Marketing: Not quite ready to help you get business
Everything Will Go Mobile
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