Mobile First PPC | Targeting your Customers Where They Are

Are you reading this on your mobile phone? The answer is most likely yes. So it will come as no surprise that 92% of the UK have mobiles. Mobiles are usually the first choice for modern consumers, exceeding desktop usage and driving high numbers of website traffic while on the go.

Taking a Mobile First approach to Pay Per Click is often overlooked despite the great opportunity. We explore why Mobile First should be a priority and our experts share some other top tips.

 

// Why should your PPC strategy be Mobile First?

 

• Mobile shopping is still on the rise – Think about the convenience of buying and researching anything you want at any time, that’s what the internet was created for after all. We know that many consumers often discover brands/products on their phone and then when they have more time purchase the items at home or on another device. So, mobile shopping is NOT to be ignored.
• Improve the user experience for your customers – Not only can it improve the usability for your customers, but it improves brand perceptions and in turn encourages loyalty. Customers want maximum satisfaction for minimum effort.
• Be more creative with your content – Involve interactive features and think about what your customers will engage with on a small screen. The most obvious example is Instagram stories versus Youtube video aspect ratios – they don’t translate across both platforms. So think about mobile-friendly content!
• Mobile First Indexing – Google predominantly index the mobile version of a website, so if Google is indexing this way and this is where your customers are – you better make sure you are optimised for mobile too.

 

So now we’ve opened your eyes to the importance of Mobile First PPC, how can you go about optimising your PPC Ads? Our experts spill some PPC tea:

 

// Optimising for Mobile First PPC Ads

 

Many PPC ads are set up on desktop computers and never reviewed on mobile until your customer sees it. Our experts always keep Mobile at the forefront of our strategies and so should you.

 

Mobile Friendly Websites

This might go without saying, but a mobile friendly site is absolutely essential. How can you expect consumers to shop on a site with overlapping images and confusing menu bars? With so much competition out there, if you manage to get your target audience onto your site - you want to make it as easy as possible for them to convert. The below checklist provides some tips to ensure a mobile friendly website:

• Simplify your menu (a burger menu can work best on mobile to avoid clutter)
• Ensure text and buttons are big enough to read/press, remember phone screens are smaller
• CTA’s should be big, clear and easy to find
• Make it easy to add to cart/get in touch
• Avoid pop ups
• When the customer adds an item to their cart then presses ‘back’ to continue shopping, make sure the item still stays in their cart so they can add more
• Test your website on different phones, remember different phones have different screen sizes

Load Speed

Even a 2-second delay in load time can result in up to 87% abandonment rate. This scarily high figure shows that mobile consumers are impatient. If you are spending budget driving traffic through to your website from PPC campaigns but your website has a 3-second load time, you are arguably wasting that budget. Make sure that you investigate your load speed to ensure that your PPC campaigns are efficient and effective.

Avoid Forms

On mobile, forms are a real hassle for users. If you are going to drive users to a website that requires them to fill out a form, make sure it is as easy to use as possible, with the least amount of questions. Other mobile options to consider include:

• Drop downs - Drop down menus in general should be avoided for mobile users, but if they are essential for your brand, make sure you follow our expert advice. Think how annoying it is when you live in the UK and you first scroll down to ‘U’ for UK, then ‘G’ for Great Britain, then ‘B’ for Britain when you’ve lost all hope! List your most popular answer – including locations at the top, then the rest of the list can be in alphabetical order to save your consumers the frustration and risk of dropping off.
• Payment methods – If possible, give users the option for PayPal or other similar banking software. If they are on mobile, the chances of them taking their card out and typing all those digits in is slim. Again, a key thought for usability and maximising conversions.
• Create an account/sign in as guest – The easier the options to get through to payment, the better. Give users the opportunity to sign in as a guest if they don’t want to create an account, so they don’t need to enter their details again. Mobile users can be impatient and often multi-task while making a purchase, so consider this in all UX elements on your website.

Sound

When on mobile, we don’t know where our audience are going to be seeing ads. For example, if they are at work they won’t want to play ads with sound out loud at their desk, but at lunchtime in the break room they might want the sound. We don’t want to irritate our target audience, so having the option of an ad with and without sound is ideal. This also improves the accessibility of our PPC campaigns and takes into consideration anyone with hearing difficulties. If your ad has sound, then make sure to add subtitles for accessibility too.

Time is money to consumers

When consumers are on mobile, they could be on the go and don’t have time (or the desire) to read long copy or understand complex assets. Assets and copy should therefore be created with performance in mind. If you want to drive sales/leads, skip the fluff and get to the point whilst keeping it relevant for your target audience. Ensure your CTA (call to action) is clear and compelling, highlighting where they can buy/get in touch/learn more etc.

Location and Phone Number Links

This is especially relevant for mobile consumers as buttons integrated to Google Maps or calling can be the difference between your ad being successful or not. Imagine the situation, you are thinking about going out for lunch. What are you looking for? The proximity of the restaurant which is easily done through Google Maps and the opportunity to phone and ask personally if they have any availability through the call feature. These links in your ad make it as easy as possible for the audience to convert. Convenience is key.

Whilst mobile might not always be the highest converting device, we must always remember mobile isn’t going anywhere. It’s where our target audience browse, research and interact. So, we must ensure our PPC campaigns are optimised with a Mobile First approach.

If you need support with driving Mobile First PPC campaigns, our team of experts are ready to help you improve your strategy and optimise your campaigns. Get in touch today and even enjoy a free Digital Audit!