February 2018

When we have questions in life … about anything, we tend to go to a trusted source to discover the answers. It could be a member of our family, a teacher or a good friend–someone we really know well, and who knows and understands us, too. Another trusted source we turn to for answers is digital online search, and the content that follows. Common is the school of thought that no matter how specific your question may be, there are answers to be found online.

Have you’ve ever heard the phrase, “If you’re standing still, you’re moving backwards?” This applies to many aspects of life, including mobile brand experiences. The two most crucial elements to customer satisfaction are Speed and Relevance. Validated by recent research, it was revealed that there is a third component which advertisers must take into account: In the world of mobile marketing, “neutral” experiences are not really neutral … they are more negative than anything else.

According to a new analysis, it takes an average of 22 seconds for a mobile landing page to fully load.1 But, 53% of searchers will abandon the mobile site if it takes longer than three seconds to load.2 This is somewhat of a dilemma! In fact, as a page’s load time increases, the likelihood of a bounce also increases substantially. As a page’s load time is extended from one second to anything higher, the bounce rate increases accordingly:

There is a lot of information to be learned by following the bread crumbs left by the consumers. Some of these “crumbs” come in the form of the top searches of 2017, which helps marketers to better understand the dynamics of search in 2018. By taking a look at the top searches, we learn about the consumers’ needs, wants, and where their interests lie. We know that in 2017 they looked extensively for eclipse glasses, they wanted to know how to make “slime” for their kids, and they wanted to know how they could help the hurricane and flood victims.