Covario Issues Business Case for Mobile SEO Programs by Large Advertisers

Illustrates Point with Case Study on how Equipment Supplier Toolfetch Mobilizes its Customers

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 13, 2011 -- Covario, Inc., the nation’s largest independent search marketing agency and software solutions provider, today issued a white paper presenting the “Business Case and Strategy for Executing Mobile SEO Programs by Large Advertisers,” pointing toward the growth, benefits and strategies for executing successful online search programs from mobile devices and tablets as distinguished from standard PC-based search engine queries.

The authors of the report, Covario CMO Craig Macdonald and Senior SEO Strategist Michael Martin, support the premise that mobile search will be the main process by which digital advertising is served to consumers within the next ten years. Already, according to a recent Google study, 77 percent of mobile device owners use their smart phones and tablet devices to conduct online searches.

The report addresses how mobile search is different from desktop search. It also offers strategies and SEO best practices for digital advertisers to take full advantage of the small-screen platform from a search marketing perspective.

Using Google as the baseline − since it accounts for 95 percent of the mobile searches conducted in the U.S. − the Covario study found a host of differences between search results conducted on desktop and mobile devices. The distinctions range from how search results pages are visualized to the number of organic listings that appear.

There are also differences in formatting, not to mention the increased amount of localization that occurs on mobile platforms.

Even the way people do their searches varies depending on the device they are using − typically involving fewer keywords per search on mobile versus desktop devices.

The white paper goes on to offer specific advice for large digital advertisers focusing on what they can do to drive improved search engine rankings for their brands from mobile devices.

One advertiser (and a Covario client) that has fully embraced mobile search engine optimization is Toolfetch, a leading Internet retailer that offers an array of supplies and equipment for the automotive, banking, construction, medical, business office, restaurant and shipping industries.

A key element of the Mamaroneck, N.Y.-based online retailer’s mobile strategy is to enable workers in these industries to use their smart phones to order tools immediately when they need them right from the work site and have their orders filled with fast deliveries directly to the site.

Taking advantage of the Covario Mobile Site Optimizer™ solution, Toolfetch was able to launch a mobile website in a fraction of the time it would have taken totally within the organization to develop a new site. The Covario software technology automatically generates mobile Web pages that are optimized to fit various mobile devices, including iPhone, Android and BlackBerry smart phones.

With relatively little involvement from its IT department, Toolfetch now has Web pages optimized for mobile search engines with constantly updated information about pricing, special offers, etc. The mobile site built for Toolfetch includes both add-to-cart and click-to-call features.

Since launching the mobile website, Toolfetch had seen its mobile internet traffic go up by 30 percent year-over-year. In addition, 80 percent of the search terms that drive traffic to the mobile site also generated incremental traffic to the company’s main website.

“Budgets and traffic still are relatively low on mobile compared to overall Web traffic, but this presents opportunities for growing brands to compete on a level playing field with the big brands,” said Andrew Brown, president and co-founder of Toolfetch. “The mobile arena is keeping search marketing’s original promise as an advertising channel in which customer-focused Davids can compete with the Goliaths.”

Both the mobile SEO white paper and the Toolfetch case study are available free on Covario’s website at www.covario.com.

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About Covario
Covario is the nation’s largest independent provider of search marketing services and SaaS-based SEO software systems. Headquartered in San Diego, the firm offers global enterprise solutions and agency services for paid and organic search, social media marketing, display advertising, and cross-media attribution analysis. The company’s growing customer base includes world leaders in technology, consumer electronics, retail, ecommerce, financial services, media, entertainment, publishing, and consumer packaged goods. More information about Covario is available at http://www.covario.com.