(Newswire.net — January 20, 2015) East Aurora, NY — Now, more than ever, how law firms position themselves online is critical to their advertising success (or failure). The facts are that most law firm websites and advertising are not mobile-friendly, giving mobile-ready competitors a serious edge in the market.
The 30% increase in phone views and concurrent decline in desktop views for legal websites demonstrates that where and how customers search for legal services and professionals have changed.
According to the Internet Advertising Revenue Report released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC US, internet advertising revenues climbed to an historic high of $12.4 billion for Q3 2014 (the highest quarter ever). Mobile advertising in the United States increased 76% at $5.3 billion in HY 2014 compared to the first six months of 2013.
David Silverman, Partner at PwC, notes that the rise in mobile advertising “…speaks to consumers’ increasing reliance on smartphones and tablets, whether on-the-go or at home.”
Paul Beauchemin, a New York based digital marketing consultant and Founder of Digital Marketing Returns, indicates that, ”in most of the AdWords audits we do, anywhere from 60-85% of all searches are now mobile. Two years ago this was the reverse.”
It makes sense. Many people carry their smartphones with them 24/7 and, during work hours, must do any personal, non-job related searching on their phones. Law firms can be with their prospective clients wherever they go if they are mobile-ready and prospective clients can call immediately from the same device they use to search for firms.
Despite this, Beauchemin has found that most of the websites Digital Marketing Returns audits have very poor look and feel on phones: “Font size is too small to see and large paragraphs are nearly impossible to read.”
Google favors mobile-ready sites by having them turn up near the top of the search results as well as indicating whether they are mobile-friendly (and, thus, easily navigable by mobile visitors) or not. Local search results are also more prominently displayed on mobile devices.
Google is currently playing catch-up with Facebook. According to Perry Marshall, Keith Krance and Thomas Meloche, authors of “Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising: How to Access 1 Billion Potential Customers in 10 Minutes”, only Facebook has the technology to display full screen ads on a phone. Facebook, already number one in the display space by a significant margin over Google, may surpass Google’s mobile ad revenue within the year.
About VerdadCara Inc.
VerdadCara Inc. is a US based marketing agency focused on digital marketing strategies that help Attorneys and Private Investigators. Operations include 48 Hour Local Leads for Google AdWords management, Digital Marketing Returns responsible for Search Engine Optimization, Facebook advertising, press releases and orchestrated referral systems and PI Profits for private investigators.