Marketers may disagree on any number of topics, but there is one area where everyone seems to be in complete agreement: mobile is the wave of the digital marketing future. No matter how you look at it, mobile is the juggernaut that just won’t quit.

• Consumers are already spending more time with their favorite mobile device than they are watching television. That’s a pretty impressive accomplishment for an industry that didn’t even exist a mere seven years ago.
• Before 2015 is out, mobile devices will account for 70 percent of the total US search audience.
• In the coming months, mobile will surpass desktop in terms of organic search, paid search, and search ad spending.
• In terms of click-through-rates, mobile is leaping ahead of desktops: smartphone CTRs are 64 percent higher than desktops, followed by tablet devices with an 18 percent higher CTR.
• Conversion rates for mobile devices are already higher than desktop conversion rates. As reported by MarketWatch, consumers have apparently become increasingly more at ease with processing financial transactions through their mobile device.
• Return-on-investment (ROI) is the one significant metric where mobile is expected to continue to trail desktop search.

According to a statement released by Marin Software, leading providers of software solutions for ad spend management and optimization, “We’re at the cusp of mobile becoming the dominant channel in search marketing. Consumers are becoming much more comfortable using their smartphones and tablets to complete transactions online, and as we see that comfort level rise advertisers will follow suit with continued investment and optimization in mobile.”

Get Your Website Mobile-friendly Today or Get Left Behind Tomorrow
Consumers aren’t the only ones jumping on the mobile bandwagon. Google is increasing its efforts to improve user experience with mobile search, which should serve as your wake-up call. Google wants users who click on a mobile organic search listing to have a satisfying experience, which is highly unlikely if the search ends at a non-mobile-friendly web page. Google started tagging sites that are mobile friendly in late 2014, and has recently begun to drop sites that are not mobile-friendly from the organic mobile search results.

Certain criteria have been established for mobile-friendly sites such as the use of text that is readable on a mobile device without having to zoom, discontinuance of site software that is not compatible with mobile devices, content that sizes automatically across various mobile devices, and links placed far enough apart so that they can be easily tapped by a mobile user.

Google Webmaster Tools has a free Mobile-Friendly Test application for checking the mobile-friendliness of individual pages; the Mobile Usability Report provides a site-wide report on mobile usability issues.

Take Steps Now to Monetize Mobile Search Traffic
Consumers are not only using mobile devices to search for product information and pricing in record numbers, they’re increasingly looking to complete their purchases online. While not every industry or niche lends itself to taking online payments – think high-ticket purchases such as automobiles and real estate – you need to consider carefully if online payment processing for mobile device customers is something that your business should be gearing up for.

A variety of online payment solutions are available that can provide your customers with easy and secure payment options at an affordable cost. Look at it this way: how many of your competitors are offering customers online payment processing? If the answer is anything other than ‘None,’ your business is already at a competitive disadvantage that is only going to get worse over time.