Jeffrey Kamikow | SERPs Warning: If you are Below #4, You Are Invisible

 Do you think SEO is dead? On mobile it certainly isn’t. A new eye-tracking study just released by Mediative shows where people’s eyes go on mobile SERPs, and the results don’t look good if you’re not ranked well.

The study sought to answer four questions:

1.    Where do mobile users search and click the most and how do they differ from desktop users?
2.    How do SERP position relate to views and clicks on mobile devices?
3.    How does the need for scrolling affect views and clicks?
4.    From this data, what do advertisers need to do to ensure visibility and clicks on mobile SERPs?

Google’s alteration of search page layouts over the years has trained people to search in different ways. Now that there are knowledge panels, more ads at the top of results, people are willing to scroll a bit to get to the first real organic listing. On mobile devices, only 7.4% of clicks happened on a result below the fourth organic result regardless of how many ads and extra Google features appeared above it. This is compared to 16% on desktop.

The effect of ads and knowledge panels is huge on mobile. In many searches the first thing that fills the screen is the knowledge panel, then a certain number of ads before the organic results are reached. People still scroll down for that #1 position, but that spot has a lot of competition. Another finding was that 11% more people are clicking on the knowledge panel compared to desktop, and that almost 22% fewer clicks went to the #1 organic spot.

This is huge. Businesses that can integrate themselves into Google’s system so they appear on knowledge panels have a strong advantage. But that doesn’t mean that being in the top organic spot isn’t important. In mobile SERPs that only had organic listings, 99% of people looked at that top spot and 40% clicked on it. Compare this to 83% of views and 34% of clicks on a desktop. Also, 75% of the clicks fell on the first four results compared to 60% on a desktop.

What about PPC ads? Unlike a desktop where the eye usually has enough room to skip down, ads are much more visible on mobile. 91% of the people tracked saw the top sponsored ad. For the top two ads, clicks on average rose by 4.7% compared to desktop. However, placements in maps and local searches receive far more clicks regardless of whether they appear above or below organic search results.

The results are crystal clear. You must optimize very well for mobile if you are going to make any headway with mobile marketing. Fortunately, many businesses are still focused almost entirely on desktop SEO. Start applying mobile SEO techniques now so you’ll be ahead of the game.

Jeffrey Kamikow | Google To Adjust Algorithm For Mobile-Friendliness

 When Google calls the tune, the rest of us follow. Our experience of the Internet changes every time they make a change to their algorithm.  Another change is coming out in May, but unlike earlier changes Google is announcing the details in advance. It involves improving the rankings of mobile friendly websites.

Last year, Google said that it was going to increase the rankings of mobile-friendly pages on its mobile browser. Now they plan on “increasing the effect” of their mobile-friendly ranking signals in order to continue improving its search results on mobile devices. This comes after previous updates when Google added a mobile friendly tag and then adjusted the mobile search rankings based on the mobile readiness of web pages.

It is important for web developers to get their sites mobile ready now if they want to retain ranking on mobile searches. Ever since May of last year, the number of searches on mobile has exceeded the ones on desktop. If your goal is to reach the maximum amount of online users, your target audience must include smartphone users. Using a responsive site design is a good start, and is recommended by Google, but it may not be enough to meet all of Google’s requirements to receive the mobile friendly label in search results.

Google looks for several features on a web page to classify it as mobile friendly. These include things like using a text size that’s readable without zooming, and sizing content so it doesn’t need zooming or horizontal scrolling. Another feature is the placement of links. Links must be far enough apart so that a user can tap the one they want without confusion. Google also likes sites that don’t use technologies that aren’t used on phones.

The big G has also released a couple of tools to help web developers get their sites ready for the changes. The first is their mobile-friendly test tool. Just place the URL of a website into the search bar and Google will analyze it for mobile-friendliness. It’s a fast check, but if you want even more details, check out their Mobile Friendly Websites Guide. And if you are already mobile-friendly, learn what Google is looking at for mobile SEO rankings using this guide.

How does your site rank on a smartphone? Try running some searches on your website and on your keywords. Do you see Google’s mobile friendly label next to your sites? If so, great! You shouldn’t have anything to worry about with the upcoming update. If not, go through the guides and tools and get your site ready before this next wave of re-ranking happens. A short check now could save your ranking later.

Jeffrey Kamikow | What Can Competitors Teach You About Marketing Tactics?

 Every single business has a competitor, regardless of how niche they are in the market. It doesn’t matter what industry or sector you work in, you have a competitor that’s looking to take the same customers you are trying to reach. With that in mind, you can actually learn a lot from your competitors and it’s a great idea to keep a close eye on them according to digital advertising and marketing professional Jeff Kamikow. Remember that old saying keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Well, it’s definitely a saying to live by because it can help you rise above the competition. Let’s take a look at what you can learn from your competitors!

How To Find What Works Best

There are many different marketing strategies that you could use to reach potential customers, but why play trial and error when you can see what’s working for your competition. Perhaps they are using webinars or social media posts to promote their products or service. If they seem to be working and getting engagement, you can take that idea and make it better. It’s important to capitalize on the things that are working because you don’t want to miss out on any opportunities.

Localizing Your Business

Perhaps you have a competitor located in the same area as you and when you search for a specific term that’s associated with your business, what appears in the listings? Is your competition appearing before yours? If so, that’s an issue. More and more internet users are taking advantage of localized searches by typing in the product or service they are looking for, followed by a town or state. You could create local pages to cater to these specific keywords and rank better for localized searches.

Learn From Their Mistakes

Every business can make a mistake, that’s just reality, and if you notice your competition making some sort of marketing mistake that’s not working for their business, you can avoid that specific strategy. Perhaps they are targeting an audience that’s not really interested in the product or service. That could give you some insight on your own target audience and it’ll help you craft a strategy that’ll be more beneficial.

Always keep a watchful eye on your competitors because it can help you in the long run!

Why Jeffery Kamikow Believes You Can’t Afford to Ignore Mobile Advertising

 Did you know that mobile advertising will soon take over as the top internet advertising medium? There’s no question that mobile advertising has seen explosive growth in the past five years. It is now poised to take over desktop advertising in 2018, according to Zenith Optimedia.

In that year, mobile advertising is expected to make up 58% of all internet advertising. Mobile advertising actually grew by 98% last year, and desktop advertising reached its peak in 2014. Since then, it has began its slow, steady decline as more people use mobile devices, making mobile advertisers like Jeff Kamikow extremely excited. According to eMarketer, advertisers could spend as much as $100 billion on mobile advertising in 2016.

One of the reasons why mobile advertising has seen such an influx of growth in the past few years is how users engage with their mobile devices. They don’t take a minute with their device and put it down. They use it constantly throughout the day. According to the latest statistics, users spend as much as three hours each day on their mobile devices. 2.5 hours of that is on social medial apps, making it a highly valuable source for advertisers like Jeff Kamikow. In addition to that, one in three people watch videos on their mobile devices, which should mean advertisers will invest in more video ads as well.

Therefore, it’s easy to see why the rise of mobile advertising means that those looking to advertise and enhance their branding can no longer afford to sit back and keep their advertising in obsolete markets. Contact a marketing company that specializes in mobile advertising to improve your ROI.

Jeff Kamikow | Telling a Story with Your Mobile Ad

If there is one thing that could really annoy a potential customer, it’s giving him or her the same ad to look at over and over again. There is certainly something to be said about ad repetition in some mediums. You hear a jingle on the radio or see the same pitch guy on a commercial, and it could create a level of familiarity that could improve the brand. This is not the same with mobile ads.

Mobile users want ads that they can engage with. For example, you can have an ad that utilizes some form of gaming that keeps the user interested. However, if the same user is given an ad with the same gaming feature over and over again, he or she will eventually get bored with it. Jeff Kamikow is a mobile advertising expert who has produced mobile ads of all kinds. He would argue that a company’s mobile advertising strategy must consist of fresh content all of the time that tells a story. So how can you accomplish this?

There are a number of tools available today that allow mobile advertise to use predictive behavior to slightly update an ad with each view by a user. For example, the first time might just be n introduction, so it might just show broad features or a tagline. The second time around, more details might be shown or the ad might showcase a feature that could be of particular interest to the user. This will go so on and so on until the user has a full understanding of what the product does.

By adapting to customer behavior to tell your brand’s story organically, you could reach your audience better, which could potentially turn into a lead. When it comes to mobile advertising, the key is freshness to adequately tell a story.