Many mobile devices today display stripped-down versions of web pages that can be difficult to navigate while surfing the web. “The iPhone browser is among the first true Web browsers,” instead of a stripped-down mobile version, according to Gregory Markel. The iPhone allows users to view full web pages (scaled down to fit its screen) exactly as a web page would display on a monitor. Users can zoom into a section of the web page by clicking on that section of the web page to read text and view images. The iPhone is able to display a web page this way because it does not use a mobile web browser; it uses the same engine as the Safari browser found on the Mac. This just further emphasizes the importance of standards based web development because the iPhone’s display and zooming functionality is dependent on a well-designed website.

The amount of mobile internet users is projected to double by 2011 according to emarketer. This makes the mobile search market very competitive, and many new products will come out and change over the next several years (the iPhone currently does not support Flash or Java). As new products come out, do not abandon the current mobile tactics that you have implemented thus far for a device that has not yet been widely accepted. By maintaining a website that adheres to web standards, set by groups such as the World Wide Web Consortium, an organization will maintain a cost-efficient approach so that they can reach as many potential customers as possible across many mobile devices. The goal is to focus on good web development and content before worrying about user platforms. Great content and solid web development practices are the foundations of a great website.

Issue #56 introduced a review of the “Less is More” approach to Paid Search marketing, as outlined at Search Engine Watch by Pat Stroh.  This week, the conclusion of this series will look deeper into some possible additional factors to weigh in deciding whether or not to use this approach.

The rationale for the “Lees is More “ approach is as follows: before the big media push, there were searchers who were inclined to find the brand and did so of their own accord; following the media push, there will be an increased amount of newly aware searchers. This group tends to convert at a much lower rate than those who were actively pursuing the brand, with minimal influence from additional media sources. Stroh does not suggest that opening budgets in response to an offline push always leads to lower conversion rates, but it is a possibility marketers should be aware of. He suggests an alternative approach for budget-conscious brands during an offline push – lower bids and position and do not increase budgets. In theory, this will compensate for the lower conversion rates due to searchers driven by heavy promotion.

There are two things at play beyond the straightforward impact of offline promotion on conversion rates that are not covered in Pat Stroh's piece. First, by selecting broadcast media channels for offline promotion, the advertiser has likely made a conscious decision to target users earlier in the decision-making process, which in nearly all cases would come with a higher allowable cost-per-conversion. If this is the case, perhaps allowable CPAs should be adjusted during these periods to account for this type of strategy. In addition, while hard metrics around the banding value of search have been elusive, AA|RF has conducted several studies to quantify just that. A financial services client recognized 77% gains in message retention and 44% gains in unaided consideration when comparing users who were exposed to premium position search ads as compared to no presence at all. Cleary this indicates that there is value in presence alone. If marketers can quantify the branding impact of search, maintaining higher position during offline spikes may be justifiable.

Regardless, both of these approaches are worth testing when looking to align with more traditional media efforts. Provided goals are established upfront and strong metrics are in place at the outset of the test, it remains to be seen whether a brand can truly achieve greater ROI with less media budget, or if extending those budgets is the more profitable approach.

Search Engine Strategies San Jose next week – Matt Greitzer, Avenue A | Razorfish’s Global Search Marketing Practice Lead, will present next week at the SES Conference in San Jose.  Matt will present during a Wednesday afternoon session titled “In House: In, Out, Or In Between?”  Additionally, Atlas Director of Search Technology, Nico Brooks, will be a panelist Tuesday morning during “Ad Testing: Research & Findings.”  The SEO team will be represented at the conference by Group Director Josh Palau as well as Business Development Manager Dana Melick.  If you care to meet with anyone during the conference, please contact SMTrends or your account representative.