Mobile devices have had such a strong impact on advertisers in recent history that there are now separate categories in AdWords for traditional computers, tablet devices and smartphones. User interaction on mobile devices is skyrocketing, so it’s becoming necessary to gear advertising specifically to mobile users. However, behavior on mobile devices can be very different; users may be more likely to make a call than to make a purchase on a mobile device, for example. As a result, although traffic from mobile devices has value, that value may be different than the value of traffic from traditional devices. Wpromote recommends separating out mobile efforts to foster the application of tailored strategies and optimization tactics to traditional and mobile devices, respectively.

The fastest growing population in online advertising, without a doubt, is the mobile device segment. Over 12% of all search activity is now coming from mobile devices and that number is expected to grow. Of that traffic, over 97% of it is under the aegis of Google. Beginning your Mobile Advertising efforts early gives you the benefit of entering a market that is far from its saturation point with advertisers. Mobile advertisers today will enjoy a dearth of competition and lower click costs that may not exist one year from when you’re reading this. As the user experience becomes more holistic (encompassing computers, traditional media, word of mouth and mobile devices) it will become more and more important not have a gap that could lessen the experience for your customer.

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Mobile ad formats can take many different forms from simple text ads to interactive rich media ads. Wpromote recommends beginning one’s mobile efforts in mobile search, though, where the environment is strictly limited to text ads. These ads often resemble text ads in the desktop environment. Major differences between mobile and desktop ads include the inclusion of a phone number or a call to action to dial rather than click. The most important thing to remember when developing mobile ads is that, like desktop ads, it’s vital to continually test your ads so that you’re always looking for ways to make improvements.

Sitelinks are links below your paid search ad that allow users more choices than the URL that you’ve designated for your ad. These links might lead to other areas of your site that might also be interesting to a user. For example, if a user searches for “men’s pants,” the advertiser would want to deliver the user to a page that showcases all of the options for pants available in the store. With sitelinks, the advertiser can help the user skip a step by having one link to “jeans”, another link to “wool slacks”, another link to “cotton pants”, and perhaps a links to “all pants on sale”. Sitelinks presents the user with more options and also takes up more real estate on the page, making your ad even more prominent.

Location extensions are a simple and free way to give your ads more information when a user searches for you. All that the advertiser has to do is set up a free Google Places account. Once set up, you can easily link your Places account to your AdWords account. This will allow you to show your location on Google maps right within the ad on the search engine results page. Because many users searching on mobile devices may be looking for your address or at a nearby competitor doing price comparisons, the addition of location extensions can be a vital part of your mobile advertising efforts.

Advertisers should look into creating a mobile website or a mobile landing page before they are ready to invest money in advertising. Google now considers whether your site is mobile compatible when assessing an advertiser’s quality score. If you plan to invest dollars on sending a user to your site from their mobile phone, it makes sense to send them to a page that offers them the best possible experience. There are many inexpensive and even free options for making your site mobile compatible. Speak to a Wpromote representative about your options before deciding to begin your mobile advertising initiative.

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The creation of a mobile app for a website is a sexy idea that has risen in popularity. However, unless you have a wealth of developer resources or money, building a mobile app may be completely unnecessary. A more effective use of your time and money would likely be investing in optimizing your website experience within a mobile browser. Wpromote wouldn’t deter its clients from building a mobile app but we would recommend making sure that the in-browser experience is optimized before proceeding with app development as a general best practice.