Desktop Yesterday, Mobile Today: Evolution, Dominance of Mobile Search

According to Google’s Amit Singhal, there are now more Google search queries on smartphones than on PCs. In fact, they see a majority of the 100 billion monthly searches coming from mobile devices.

Early 2014 was the tipping point of mobile search. We heard Google employees then claiming that mobile search queries would exceed desktop queries soon.

Image Source: https://www.marketingtechblog.com/responsive-design-mobile-search/

Image Source: https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Presentations-and-Whitepapers/2015/2015-US-Digital-Future-in-Focus

Now the news is official, as the company released a statement saying, “More Google searches take place on mobile devices than on computers in ten nations.” This turning point came after a major algorithm update that expanded mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal.

The search engine giant says this includes the United States and Japan—but refused to share the details of the report and what those other “nations” were. They also declined to elaborate when the change really happened, or what the exact numbers of PC and mobile search queries currently are.

For marketers and businesses, there are still so many questions unanswered, especially with Google seeming to become more and more secretive when it comes to communicating updates in the mobile landscape. Fortunately, ComScore, an American Internet Analytics Company, conducted a report showing that users are now spending the majority of their time consuming digital media within mobile applications.

Image Source: https://techcrunch.com/2014/08/21/majority-of-digital-media-consumption-now-takes-place-in-mobile-apps/

With the data, it seems that in 2015, we’re already past the mobile tipping point. It’s not about knowing whether mobile marketing is important—it’s already about understanding the numbers to know the consumers’ preferences when using different types of mobile devices for search.

Image Source: https://www.kpcb.com/internet-trends

Image Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-ipad-samsung-mobile-usage-stats-2014-7

What Now? Evolution of Mobile Search Leads to Dominance of Voice

With all those changes in the last couple of years, clearly, 2016 won’t be the year when mobile search stops evolving.

This year, Google has started giving mobile-friendly content a priority in mobile search results. In March, the search engine giant announced that they’re working on a mobile index that would allow them to rank mobile sites differently from desktop sites. Clearly, this is a big project for Google. It hasn’t been prioritized as much as the Penguin refresh, but Google will likely get to it by 2016. And there’s a chance that the mobile-friendly update will evolve into a mobile-optimized update come 2016.

Because next year will experience more of mobile searches, there will likely be a boost to page tagging, as businesses will start using tags for an improved structure on mobile search results.

But perhaps the thing that will stand out in 2016 is the emergence of voice search. With mobile devices and mobile search becoming more important than ever, combined with the release of Siri (Apple), Google Now (Google), and Cortana (Microsoft), voice search is becoming a natural part of the users’ daily lives. Instead of typing, users can ask any information, and get answers almost instantly.

This means voice search and optimizing content for it is also important. Businesses need to use voice SEO, as the algorithm rules that apply for mobile optimization applies to voice search as well. Businesses also need to use local SEO, as most voice searches have local intent.

Mobile: The Main Course of Every Digital Marketing Strategy

The evolution of mobile search shows that mobile marketing is no longer a side dish to your marketing strategy main course. It’s not just “nice to have”—mobile marketing IS digital marketing.

It’s important to change your thinking from mobile to mobility as well.

Mobility, however, does not involve the “throw some spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks” approach. It involves a bull’s eye strategy—giving customers what they want, when and where they want it.

The good news is that it’s never too late to change your ways. Let RefractROI, the leading Denver SEO experts, help you. With our in-depth knowledge of the mobile marketing landscape, we’ll guide you in providing a beyond satisfactory mobile experience for your target market.

Call us today for a consultation.