Future of pay-per-click 'is in mobile advertising'

14:00 28th January 2010

Digital marketers need to be thinking about mobile advertising.

That is the opinion of Jason Murphy, director of search marketing at LeadFlash.com, who suggested in a post for Search Engine Journal that the future of pay-per-click (PPC) would be in mobile advertising.

He said: "If you are a PPC buyer, or even thinking of starting in the PPC game, you need to have mobile ads on your mind in a big way."

Mr Murphy explained that the first step for digital marketers was to make sure their website had a version that could be accessed via an internet browser on a mobile phone.

Filling in an online form may look simple on a desktop computer or a laptop, but on a mobile phone it can look daunting, so simplifications may need to be made, he said.

Once a digital marketer has their campaign set up, they must test thoroughly to optimise their conversion page.

Mr Murphy concluded that although there would continue to be a market for traditional PPC, the future lay elsewhere.

He said: "The mobile space will be the larger play in PPC marketing within the next five years."

PPC can run alongside search engine optimisation as a complementary digital marketing strategy, although PPC has the advantage of being measurable, marketing firm AlterSage said.

It said conversion rates could be increased by creating specifically targeted landing pages.