In 2010, over 300 million smartphones were shipped. More and more people are using their mobile devices to search on the go. The rate at which mobile search is growing can be compared to the early days of desktop search. Google sees hundreds of millions of mobile searches each day, according to Paul Feng, group product manager for mobile ads at Google.
Before, people would search on their desktop while at work or at home while they surf the web. Now people are searching while they are on the go or in the vicinity of your business. The biggest spikes can bee seen during lunchtime or evenings and weekends when most people are off work. It will still take a while for mobile search to surpass desktop search but mobile is still taking a large piece of the pie when it comes to search queries.
Mobile advertising will become increasingly important in upcoming years. Consumer readiness to do something after a search far exceeds that of consumer search at home. Google says 70% task completion happens within one hour on a mobile site. This means consumers are more likely to visit a restaurant one hour after searching online compared to visiting the same restaurant over the weekend when searched from home.
Because of the popularity of mobile search, it is crucial your site is optimized for mobile devices. Being able to promote your business through mobile devices and having a mobile friendly site is an important aspect of any Internet campaign. By allowing mobile users to easily find your business on the go, can be the concluding factor in generating new business.