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Doubclick Insights Recap

July 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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The following article by Neal Mohan, Vice President of Display Advertising at Google, talks about the DoubleClick Insights event. Video replays from the event are also included.

Tuesday I had the pleasure of delivering the opening keynote at DoubleClick Insights, a half-day event in which we brought together the industry’s top digital media executives for a series of honest conversations about where the space is headed and how we can move it forward together. In addition to several announcements I summarize below, the event was packed with viewpoints from ecosystem partners and luminaries. If you weren’t one of the thousands who tuned in for the livestream, you can watch the recording below.

Over the last few years, DoubleClick has focused its publisher efforts on helping you maximize revenues across multiple channels and formats. We introduced the next generation of DFP, expanded our capabilities across mobile and video, and acquired Admeld. Today we’re doubling down on publishers by building on this foundation to help you make smarter decisions, capture new spends, and work seamlessly with partners across the ecosystem.

Make Smarter Decisions
We launched the beta of Ad Exchange Market View, an interface that lets you see an aggregated landscape of pricing and uniques across the entire exchange, including which ad formats and regions are likely to get the best returns. It’s data that’s highly actionable, and no other exchange operates with this type of transparency. In addition, we also introduced the integration of 3rd party audience segments into the new version of DFP. For years, buyers have used aggregate audience data to target particular demographics and segments, and we think publishers deserve the same perspectives for their sales process. The early response to this capability has been enthusiastic and we look forward to expanding it further.

Adapting to the Empowered Consumer

Capture New Spend
With its high-touch private exchange, Admeld took pioneering steps toward helping publishers find value in the elusive “middle tier” between direct and indirect sales. We’re continuing to iterate on this model with the launch of AdX Preferred Deals, a tool for publishers to privately negotiate and sell non-guaranteed inventory to individual buyers. Preferred Deals (formerly called Direct Deals), are best suited for publishers who haven’t yet fully embraced the exchange model, and in the coming weeks we’ll share more information with our clients about how they can take part in this closed beta.

If we Build it, will (consumers) Come?

Work Easily with Partners
As the ubiquitous Lumascape attests, our ecosystem is complex and in order for digital advertising to be medium that provides a great experience for consumers, marketers and publishers alike, we all need to work together. DoubleClick believes in the power of openness, and we’re privileged to work with over 200 partners. This includes 100+ for core DFP, 40+ for mobile, 40+ for video, and a dozen each for data and rich media. Together, in partnership with the ecosystem, we’re ready to help you explore the next growth areas, and drive the revenue that funds a new generation of great content.

A Word About Digital Marketing Manager
Lastly, I wanted to mention an big announcement we made on the buy side — the introduction of DoubleClick Digital Marketing Manager (DDM), a integrated buy-side platform that will ultimately unify audience buying and reporting across all digital channels and formats — search, display, social, desktop, mobile and video. DDM will help buyers spend more and spend smarter. As a publisher, that means means more revenue for you and better ad experiences for your audience. You can read more about DDM at the DoubleClick Advertiser Blog.

Technology = Creative friend or foe?

My main takeaway from Insights, is that we’re entering an exciting new phase in this industry–one in which everything is being re-imagined, from the ads themselves to the ways they’re created, delivered, transacted and measured. DoubleClick’s goal isn’t just to help you thrive in this change, but help you drive it in ways that meet your evolving business needs. In short, our success is based on yours.

Posted by Neal Mohan, Vice President of Display Advertising


DoubleClick Publisher Blog

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Google Panda Update 3.9 Released

July 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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According to Google, they have released the latest update to their Panda algorithm.

Google posted on Twitter that the update will affect about 1% of search results.

“New data refresh of Panda starts rolling out tonight. ~1% of search results change enough to notice. More context: goo.gl/huekf ”

by  A Googler (@google) July 24, 2012

 

Filed Under: Google Tagged With: ,

Predictions For Marketing To Mums in 2012

July 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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How Mum Will Search For Products Online in 2012

Marketing To Mums in 2012

Marketing To Mums in 2012

Holly Pavlika at mediapost wrote an interesting article with great insight about what how women, especially mothers, will be targeted by big brand names over 2012. To read the whole article, click here.

In brief, here is what she discusses:

1. More mom video content on the web.

  • Mums love to watch other mums in action and trust them much more than celebrities
  • As mums watch a lot of online videos, YouTube has commissioned a Channel dedicated to women and mothers
  • Mums with their own YouTube channel can turn into web celebrities by using the right content
  • Brands need to jump on the video bandwagon if they want to stay engaged with mom.
  • Brands need to use video if they want to engage with mums

2. Mobile will continue to influence mom’s path to purchase.

  • Mums are using smartphones much more and brands that do not have a mobile strategy will be left behind
  •  According to BabyCenter, 53% of mums purchased a smartphone because they had become a mother
  • Using a smartphone and apps, mums can comparison shop, check out potential purchases with friends, download coupons, manage the budget and much more
  • The mobile phone is giving her all the information that she needs in order to make the right buying decision.

3. Mums Will Follow Those Brands That Provide A Great Experience

  • Mums looking for great experience which is more important then brand loyalty
  • Saves time, money. provides good information, great service

4. Brands Need To Be Aware Of Irregular Media Use

  • Form a more integrated approach to marketing to mothers
  • Still aware of traditional marketing as well as new digital marketing methods
  • Content needs to be compelling
  • Must be mobile phone optimismed

5. Strong Customer Service

  • Mums are using  brands social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, where she can add her opinion
  • Customer service must be relavant
  • Brands will need to have cross platform strategies in place
Filed Under: Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

H&M Using Google+ To Captivate Users

July 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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How Using Google+ Can Increase Your Business: H&M

The following post by Natalia Cano, PMM Google+ for Businesses, just shows how powerful Google+ can be for businesses.


When H&M produces hot new collections, the Swedish fashion retailer knows just how to get the word out. With around 2,500 stores spread across 44 markets, not only does the company engage in traditional forms of marketing, but also integrates its social media with other communication activities. An early adopter of Google+, today H&M has more fans on the platform than any other retail brand – over 940,000 followers.

Unique, exclusive content wins followers
Instead of replicating the experience of shopping in the store or on the website, their page supplies a steady stream of interactive content tailored specifically to the Google+ audience. H&M publishes unique coverage, including a captivating range of exclusive collection previews, contests and behind the scenes footage, such as a Vogue editor preparing for an H&M photo shoot. Their most popular posts are the ones for their top collections with Beckham, Versace and Marni.

Using ripples to understand trendsetting
H&M has a very high rate of shared posts. Their team can “View Ripples” to see who has shared content and what has been said. In this way, the ripples feature lets H&M see how posts spread across Google+, who’s sharing and resharing the content and whose opinions matter. The feature can be used to identify influencers and see how communities form around content. The larger the circles in ripples, the larger the reach they might have.

Social extensions to integrate their social strategy into search
Another feature H&M uses are social extensions in its AdWords advertising. Social extensions help the company obtain a higher number of brand recommendations, +1’s and direct traffic to their Google+ page, effectively increasing their number of followers by doing so. On average H&M has achieved a 22% CTR uplift on all their AdWords campaigns thanks to implementing social extensions.

It’s all adding up…

All of this has contributed in great levels of engagement from fans with the following results so far:

  • Average number of +1’s per post: 72
  • Average number of reshares per post: 11
  • Average number of comments per post: 22

To learn more about H&M’s inspirational example, read the full case study here.

Posted by Natalia Cano, PMM Google+ for Businesses


Think with Google

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Part 4 – Mobile Website Optimisation: 10 Tips to Make Mobile Conversions Easier

July 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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This is the last part (1 of 4) of the Mobile Website Optimisation series by Shane Cassells, from Google’s Conversion Team.

The previous three posts covered are:

Part 1: Mobile Website Optimisation : Content Consideration

Part 2: Mobile Website Optimisation : White Space

Part 3: Mobile Website Optimisation : Designing Buttons

<h3>Mobile Website Optimisation : Increase Conversion Rate</h3>

In Summary: Making it easy to convert on a mobile device is key to maximising conversion rate. Mobile conversions must play to the strengths of mobile devices and simply replicating the desktop experience is often not enough.

As in previous posts in this series, I invite readers to think about the way the mobile user experience is different from desktop. On desktop, many conversion funnels require visitors to jump through a series of hoops (often forms) before the visitor can become a customer. While this is often an unsatisfactory experience for a person with a mouse and a keyboard, mobile visitors are even less likely to put up with this in order to convert.

Mobile devices are increasingly touchscreen and the majority of smartphones have only a virtual keyboard. Mobile users also don’t have the speed of multi-finger typing and many will enter data solely with relatively large unwieldy thumbs. While there are vehicles for data-entry specific to mobile which can really help, like voice entry and text completion, these methods are rarely useful when a visitor is using uncommon language such as when they are entering a postal address or email address.

So, how do we help mobile users complete a conversion or even partially complete? By partially completing a conversion I mean allowing them to perform an action that they can complete conveniently through another medium. Here are some ways that can help make mobile conversions easier:

Have a Single Customer Experience Across all Platforms

The means by which visitors can interact with your site are varied. Mobile users will be using small screens and their thumbs; tablet users will be using medium size screens and their fingers; and desktop users will be using medium to large screens and a mouse and keyboard. However, it should be possible for a visitor to begin the conversion process on one platform and complete it on any of the others. This is what we mean by a single customer experience. For example, with amazon.co.uk a visitor can login to their account on a desktop and start adding things to their shopping cart. If they need to leave their desktop, they can simply login to their account on their mobile device and complete the transactions while they’re on the move. And this functionality is not limited to ecommerce websites. On autotrader.co.uk a visitor can add a car they are interest in to their garage on their desktop and then open their garage on mobile or tablet and find the same car there as they travel to see it.

On Amazon.co.uk, it is possible to begin a conversion on one device and complete it on another

Allow Visitors to Save Searches

The ability to save searches can be particularly useful for travel or local website owners but really it is suited to any website where a user is likely to search for the same things repeatedly. In the case of travel, it is not unusual for visitors to have favourite destinations or even for them to re-visit a site multiple times before completing a purchase. Or a take-away restaurant is likely visited time and again by users who have a favourite meal. Allowing visitors to save their searches makes the journey to their regular purchases that little bit easier. If the visitor doesn’t have an account, make it easy for them to save searches by just adding an email address or use cookies to remember the last search they completed.

Have Clear Calls To Action

This one stands to reason everywhere but it is still a barrier to conversion on many sites. Often the website owner has provided too many conversion options or not clearly enough labeled to the visitor where they are expected to go next. Avoid using multiple conversion options and use button colour and size to clearly indicate to a visitor what you want them to do next.

On Mothercare.com, the call-to-action is clear and easy to find

Allow Visitors to Save Baskets

For website owners with a basket for their visitors to fill prior to checking-out, it is a good idea if those visitors can save their baskets for their return or even for them to access the basket again from another platform. This will also encourage cross-platform purchases. Easy account login is imperative for this to work. Have an account login button on every page and keep login simple. If a visitor doesn’t have an account and is not making an immediate purchase, entering their name and email address should be sufficient for them to save their basket and access it again elsewehere.

Keep Forms Short

The best way to ensure that conversions are easy is to make sure that all forms are only as long as absolutely necessary. Get your conversions in before asking irrelevant marketing or cross-sales questions. By keeping forms short you can make conversion on a mobile device much easier indeed.

Use Top-Aligned Labels

When a mobile phone user taps on a form field, very often the browser zooms in to that field. Mobile devices are also long but narrow when vertically orientated. Thus, having form field labels to the left as is common on desktop is less feasible. By implementing field descriptions above the field it is easier for a visitor to see where they are and it allows more space for form fields.

Booking.com uses top-aligned labels in their checkout

Use HTML5 for Form Fields

By using HTML5 in form fields, it is possible to help users to complete those fields more efficiently. For example, a field for telephone number will be filled using the number keypad. Find a simple introduction to HTML5 in plain English here.

Use Check Boxes, Lists & Scroll Menus

Data entry needs to be kept to a minimum when a user has only their finger or thumb and a virtual keyboard to help them. By using check boxes, lists and scroll menus to make data entry easier, you will be helping the visitor to proceed through the conversion process. However, it is important not to give a visitor too many options in these lists or they may be less decisive.

Implement Click-to-Call

Mobile users are much more likely to make a phone call than a desktop user. If your business converts over a telephone line, make sure that all references to phone numbers on your website are tagged for click-to-call and where possible make those links into buttons.

RAC.co.uk have implemented click-to-call buttons for their breakdown service

Use Geo-Technology for Offline Conversions

A key difference between mobile and desktop users is that mobile users are using a device with location based technology. Where a conversion can take place offline, it is advisable to use this technology to help a visitor find their way to your store. In such cases it can be useful for there to be a stock checking functionality on the page and a button which will link to directions, preferably with a map, to the nearest store with the product(s) in stock. If you wish to track purchases which began on a phone, consider allowing visitors to reserve products in advance and attributing a unique tracking code to each reservation. Or to encourage quick offline sales, you might also consider having a discount code for mobile shoppers who come to the shop and convert quickly.

So, in summary, 10 ways to make conversion completions easy from a mobile device include:

  • Have a Single Customer Experience across Channels
  • Allow Saved Searches
  • Have Clear Calls to Action
  • Allow Saved Baskets
  • Keep Forms Short
  • Use Top Aligned Labels
  • Use HTML5 in Form Fields
  • Use Check Boxes, Lists & Scroll Menus
  • Implement Click-To-Call
  • Use Geo-Technology for Offline Conversions

Mobile Website Testing Tip:

When you are building your mobile site, test it on different devices to make sure it looks well on different sized screens. Check out this tool to replicate phones from different operating systems on your desktop.

In my next post, I will be looking at best practices for Search & Refinement on mobile websites. If you have a comment, please post it.

Posted by Shane Cassells, Google Conversion Team

Conversion Room

Filed Under: Mobile Website Optimisation Tagged With: , , , ,

Part 3: Mobile Website Optimisation – 7 Considerations When Designing Buttons on Mobile Websites

July 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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This is the third article in the series by Shane Cassells, Google Conversion Team, on Mobile Website Optimisation. In this post, Shane discusses the considerations that need to be taken when designing buttons for mobile websites.

In short, he concludes that buttons on mobile sites should be:

  • Big
  • Isolated
  • Reachable
  • Padded
  • Obvious
  • Prioritised
  • Descriptive

This is the third post in a series on optimising mobile websites for conversions. The previous two posts covered Content Prioritisation and White Space

In Summary: Buttons rule on mobile devices. The rule of thumb means that big, well spaced buttons with clear calls to action will likely result in more conversions.

Before looking at how buttons can make the mobile user experience better we must first understand the way mobile users navigate. Think about the way you hold your phone. More often than not it’s in just one hand and because your fingers are gripping the phone from behind, you are left only with your thumb for navigation of the screen. The thumb is far less precise than a mouse pointer.

As you can see from this image, fingers are behind the phone leaving the thumb to do all the work.

The Mobile Rule of Thumb: If it cannot be done with the thumb, it cannot be done.

The hyperlink is a poor user experience on a touchscreen mobile device because it is very hard to use with an imprecise instrument like the human thumb. If that’s not all, mobile devices are often used by people on the move, so hitting a small point on the screen is just getting harder and harder. The best way to alleviate these issues is to build your links into big buttons which allow for greater levels of inaccuracy.

Here are are a few things to consider when building button links:

Buttons Should be Big

In a recent study of iPad users, Jakob Nielsen, the father of human computer interaction studies, recommends that buttons be at least 1cm x 1cm in diameter. That’s 28px assuming the standard web resolution of 72dpi. There’s a lot of debate around this area.

Apple is recommending 44×44 at a minimum for buttons in apps.

A very interesting introduction to designing for different screen sizes on Android can be found here.

This is something you really need to test when building your site. Without a mouse or even a stylus, buttons need to be big. Put simply, you should build buttons for thumbs. And err towards large thumbs. There is also the issue of light. Many mobile screens perform poorly in daylight or bright light environments – big buttons make it easier to perform tasks while visibility is low.

Buttons Should be Isolated

How many times have you tried to click a button on a mobile device only to find that you have inadvertently clicked something else? It can be a really painful experience and is also a sure-fire way of making a user give up in frustration and go somewhere else. One way to avoid accidental clicks is to ensure that buttons have a little space between them. Call-to-action buttons especially should be isolated. Where possible, leave a little white space around buttons.

Buttons Should be Reachable

The placement of your buttons is also important. Just as we need to consider big thumbs for button size, we need to think about what is comfortable for thumbs when placing buttons. The standard navigation button is across the whole page on mobile sites so it isn’t really an issue but many mobile sites have call-to-action buttons which are shorter and sit on one side of the screen or the other. If possible, these buttons should be made longer and centred more. Not only does that make them larger but it’s easier for both left and right handed people to reach the buttons with their thumb. If you must choose a side of the screen, contrary to the right side placement often found on desktop, it is actually more comfortable for a right-handed thumb (the majority of users) to click a button on the left side of the screen.

Kiddicare.com found button placement on the left side of the screen was easier for users than the right

Smaller Buttons Should be Padded

Padding refers to making clickable an area larger than the button itself. This can be especially useful for check boxes or buttons that need to be smaller so as not to draw attention away from the main call-to action. The trick is to make the area immediately around the button clickable as well. In the case of check boxes, it is important to leave sufficient space between boxes and then to make the text next to the box clickable too.

Buttons Should Look Like Buttons

This might seem like common sense but it is not unusual to find links on mobile sites which behave like buttons but do not look like them. Whether it is a link that looks the same as the text around it or a button that looks like a heading, the user needs some form of visual cue to help them understand where to click. Make buttons look three dimensional and they are more likely to invite clicks. It is also important that your site clearly indicates to a user which button they have clicked. Some sites do this really well, but others are a little patchy. Touching any part of a button should result in a visual signal for the user.


In the example above, the Filter link behaves like a button but looks like the rest of the text, so some users will miss that.

Buttons Should be Prioritised

In much the same way as we do with desktop sites, buttons on mobile devices need to be prioritised. Visual cues like size and colour will help users to identify where they need to click. If we are making all buttons big to allow for thumbs, then colour becomes even more important. Try to have a different coloured button for the main call to action. Other important links should still be buttons – just not as obvious

Buttons Should Use Descriptive Text

This is not just a convention of mobile but it is still very important. The text we use on buttons will set the expectations of the users clicking on them. It is important that the text be clear and that it conforms to an action the user is taking. Button text should complete the statement “I would like to…” and begin with a verb. It should also consider the point the user is at in their journey through the site. ‘Buy Now’ buttons on the homepage are generally inappropriate. “Shop Now” is often a better call to action so early in the visit. There is never a time when ‘Click Here’ or other such terms are ideal because they set no expectations for the user.

Why use buttons? Imagine the difficulty of picking the right link in the example above.

So does this mean we can never use hyperlinks? Of course you can. But you should use them minimally and don’t put lots of them into the same space. As a rule, try to have no more than one link per band of text. For example, In the point above about making buttons big enough, I have spread the points with links across multiple lines to make it easier for touchscreen users to tap them on the mobile version of this blog.

Of course when it comes to a mobile site which is trying to convert visitors into customers, try not to have much text.

In summary, buttons on mobile sites should be:

  • Big
  • Isolated
  • Reachable
  • Padded
  • Obvious
  • Prioritised
  • Descriptive

Buttons that have been well thought out and follow the guidelines above should help increase conversions on your mobile website.

Mobile Website Testing Tip: When you are building your mobile site, physically test it while you are in motion to best replicate the real-world user experience.

The next post will be looking at how to make conversions easier to complete on a mobile website. If you have feedback, please leave a comment.

Posted by Shane Cassells, Google Conversion Team

Conversion Room

Filed Under: Mobile Website Optimisation Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Part 2: Mobile Website Optimisation – How Effective Use of White Space Can Improve the Mobile Website Experience

July 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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This article continues from the first part, which discussed the mobile website optimisation and what considerations are needed for content on a mobile website.

To briefly summarise this post, 4 points are needed to bare in mind when creating a layout for your mobile site:

  • Mobile sites should not be cluttered
  • Remove unnecessary elements which take up space and data
  • Use bullet points instead of paragraphs for text
  • Have a light background to your site

This is the second post in a series on optimising mobile websites for conversions.

In Summary: Uncluttered mobile sites with minimal but meaningful information which is visible to users on the go is key to maximising conversions on mobile devices.

Mobile devices have small screens. The larger ones have about 640×960 pixel resolution (or 4in/10cm diameter). When you compare that with a desktop computer screen it’s not very big. So how do you ensure that a user on a small screen gets to see all of the things they would see on a desktop version of your site? You don’t. In this post we will be focusing on using white space as a means to making mobile websites feel intuitive and uncluttered.

Do Not Overcrowd the Screen: As covered in the last post on content prioritisation, a big part of mobile site building involves stripping out as much detail as possible. Mobile users are task oriented so they only need the details necessary to complete a task quickly. Speed is important and the way you present the information on your site will impact heavily on the speed with which a user can digest it. It might seem counter-intuitive when the screen is so small and you have so much to say but pushing lots of information and too many options at your users will push them away from a conversion. Prioritised content combined with effective use of white space leads to a better mobile experience.

Banners, Pictures & Videos: Desktop sites are generally overburdened with banners, pictures & videos but it’s easier to get away with that when you have a big screen and a fast broadband connection. Real estate is precious on a mobile device so only use small pictures – but pictures are still recommended. You can make it possible for a user to click on pictures to increase the size but it should be a user choice. Banners should be kept to an absolute minimum or even removed altogether. If you are using a banner it should only be a conversion reinforcement banner such as highlighting a delivery or returns policy. You can also use banner advertisements if that is the way you monetise your site. Videos can contribute effectively to a conversion, particularly a brand oriented one. However, where a video is not necessary and is even distracting, it should not be included. If you’re unsure, test it with a tool like Google Website Optimiser to see what impact video has for your mobile site.

Bullet Points: Desktop users generally will not read lots of text. Mobile users are even less likely to. All paragraphs of text should be removed and replaced with clear concise bullet points. Mobile user’s often read at arms length so the text should also be large enough and clear enough to facilitate this. A great way of doing so is to ensure that there’s not a lot to read. Where bands of text are unavoidable, it should be possible for users to hide or expand the text or to get more information on tabs. Use headlines that summarise the text that follows so a user can still convert without reading everything.

The m.wikipedia.org. site allows users to choose what text they want to see
White Space is Light Space: Dark backgrounds are a bad experience even on a desktop but on a mobile site they can be devastating to conversions. Mobile users are on the go and when they are outside in daylight situations background colour is very important. Try using a projector in a bright room with the curtains drawn and the light splashing onto the screen. If your slides have a dark background you won’t see them. If they have a white background with black text, it won’t be a problem. That is the same experience on a macro level as a user trying to use a website with a dark background on a mobile device outside. It might look cool when you’re building it in a lab, but it’s not a great experience. Users can increase the brightness of their display but that will place greater strain on the battery.

White space (also called negative space) doesn’t have to be white but it should be pale so that high contrast text and images placed against it are visible even in poor light. Using a picture as a background is also not recommended. Again, remember that users are often on the go and reading at a distance.

White space also helps when building sites to fit multiple devices of varying resolutions. The more white space, the less likely your site will look cramped or stretched on different devices. Of course, it’s also a good idea to design your site with multiple resolutions in mind.

This site uses a light background and uncluttered space to great effect.
To summarise, 4 points to keep in mind when creating a layout for your mobile site:

  • Mobile sites should not be cluttered
  • Remove unnecessary elements which take up space and data
  • Use bullet points instead of paragraphs for text
  • Have a light background to your site

Mobile Website Testing Tip: When you are building your mobile site, test it in different light levels to best replicate the user experience.

The next post will be looking at how big buttons can make mobile website conversion a whole lot easier. If you have feedback, please leave a comment.

Posted by Shane Cassells, Google Conversion Team

Filed Under: Mobile Website Optimisation Tagged With: ,

Part 1: Mobile Website Optimisation – 5 Considerations when Prioritising Content

July 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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I came across an interesting series of four articles from Google, about Mobile Site Optimisation, so I thought you may find these both interesting and helpful whe it comes to converting your webistes to mobile optimised websites.

The following article is by Shane Cassells, Google Conversion Team, and describes what you need to consider when prioritising content for a mobile website. To summarise, the article discusses the following points:

  • Build for task oriented users
  • Make site navigation fast
  • Have a visible search box
  • Layout content for scrolling
  • Build for online/offline experience

Mobile Website Design Considerations

According to research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), the Western European mobile phone market grew 7.5% year on year to 50.7 million units in 3Q10. Shipments of smartphones increased to 19 million units, 109% higher than the previous year’s third quarter, to represent 37% of total shipments. More and more users are moving to mobile devices capable of a full internet experience and so it is growing even more important than ever that mobile optimised websites be built to capture this growing market of users.

This is the first post in a series on optimising mobile websites for conversions. This post focuses on content prioritisation as a means to making mobile websites quick and easy to use.

In Summary: Mobile website content needs to be prioritised for multi-tasking users on the move. Everything that helps a user to convert quickly and easily should be included. Everything else is surplus to requirements.

To understand how we should think about the content to be placed on mobile handheld devices we must first think about how these devices are used. A key to this is in the very description we use – mobile. Mobile device users are on the move. They are usually in a hurry and are accessing the net at times which are convenient to them and often for short periods only.


Desktop websites need to be optimised for small screen hand-held devices
Mobile users are task oriented. Mobile is about fast access to information and services – whatever tasks can be completed by your service quickly and on the go will be the target features for mobile users. When choosing mobile website content, focus on features which are local, mobile and easy to complete. Take a look at your website analytics and use an advanced segment for mobile users to see how they have been using the desktop features on your site. This will give you an insight into the kinds of services mobile users will want to access most on your mobile site.

Mobile users seek speedy answers. Quick convenient conversions are important to mobile users and latency is not tolerated. If a site is taking a while to load, attention may quickly move to something else. Mobile optimised sites are stripped of extraneous content as well as most advertising, videos, pictures and banners – unless they are necessary for a conversion. Flash should be avoided. Data download and streaming speeds are much slower than most home/office broadband connections. By prioritising content and building for smaller screens, it is possible to make your website accessible to users quickly.

Mobile users are likely to search. With mobile devices there is little room for navigation bars and drop down menus. Mobile users are in a hurry so they will often search rather than navigate. The search box should be big and obvious, near the top of the page. Make the search box large enough that a user can easily tap it using their thumb. Results should be easily filtered.

Mobile users scroll through content. Users will still scan but they will do so from top to bottom, scrolling with their thumb to access more information. This is becoming a convention of mobile. If your site layout obviously follows this convention, users will not think twice about scrolling. As with a desktop site, prioritise your content so that the most important features are seen first. It is also a good idea to put important information or buttons at the bottom of a page, particularly when the page is very long. Many mobile users will scroll really quickly to the bottom of a page if they don’t find what they need at the top.

Mobile users are online and offline. If you have a bricks and mortar store, mobile users may access their handsets to improve their offline experience. Store location, directions, product availability, product reservation and creating shopping lists are all things that the mobile user will need to be able to access easily on your site.

Source: eMarketer.com

To summarise, 5 points to keep in mind when prioritising content for mobile:

  • Build for task oriented users
  • Make site navigation fast
  • Have a visible search box
  • Layout content for scrolling
  • Build for online/offline experience

The next post will be looking at how to use white space to improve the experience for users of a mobile website. If you have feedback, please leave a comment.

Posted By Shane Cassells, Google Conversion Team

Filed Under: Mobile Website Optimisation Tagged With: , ,

Website Optimizer Webinars on YouTube Channel

July 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Increase your business with more online customers with help from SEO Consultants London.

Google’s Website Optimiser team has just added two new videos to its YouTube Channel. Check them out.
It’s a great week for the Website Optimizer YouTube channel. On the heels of Dan Siroker’s talk, How we used data to win the election, we just posted two recorded webinars. The first webinar is Planning and Running your First Experiment with Website Optimizer. David Booth, one of our authorized consultants, gives an outstanding presentation that guides you through setting up your first test. Along the way, he shares lots of great insights, case studies, and tips for increasing your conversion rate.
The second webinar is about the Website Optimizer Experiment Management API and is aimed at a more technical audience. In this webinar, Website Optimizer engineers Erika Rice-Scherpelz and Gary Kacmarcik explain how to use the API. We also have a demonstration from Ken Colborn, also a GWO authorized consultant, on how he’s integrated Website Optimizer with their Motivity CMS platform.
Grab some popcorn and enjoy.

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Website Optimizer team


Google Website Optimizer Blog

Filed Under: YouTube Tagged With: , , , ,

Google+ Platform Goes Mobile

July 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Google’s Product Manager,  Francis Ma describes that the Google+ platform is being launched on mobile devices.

Since unveiling Google+ to the world a year ago, the number of mobile users on Google+ has grown rapidly. In fact, there are now more people that use Google+ from a mobile device than from a desktop computer. We have always believed in the importance of mobile for our users, and today, we are announcing an offering for mobile developers — the Google+ platform for mobile, in early developer preview.

This platform includes mobile web optimized social plugins and Google+ SDK for iOS and Android (coming soon). With these new SDKs, you can integrate Google+ identity, sharing, and history into your mobile apps to create more engaging social experiences and connect with more users.

Check out the mobile platform documentation to learn more about integrating Google+ into your app!

We are just getting started and would love to hear your ideas and suggestions. Share your thoughts and follow the conversation on Google+.

Posted by Francis Ma, Product Manager, Google+


Google+ Developers Blog

Filed Under: Google Plus Tagged With: , , ,
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