Almost 86 million people use their mobile phones to seek local business information in the US, according to results from the Neustar Localeze and 15miles Sixth Annual comScore Local Search Usage Study [PDF]. The study highlights the growing importance of mobile devices to search, with the total number of visitors to search navigation sites conducted via mobile phones and tablets growing by 26% and 19%, respectively, between March and December 2012. Even more encouragingly, mobile searchers are more likely than PC and laptop searchers to make a purchase.
According to the report, 78% of mobile phone searchers and 77% tablet searches result in a purchase (online, in-person or over the phone), compared to 59% of PC/laptop searches. On another positive note, mobile phone purchase amounts were comparable to those for PCs and laptops, while tablet searches tended to end in more expensive purchases.
That’s good news because search activity appears to be migrating from PCs and laptops to mobile devices. Total US searches on the PC dropped 6% year-over-year to 27.8 billion in December 2012, with local searches declining faster than non-local searches (17% vs. 5%). Read the rest at MarketingCharts.
The e-Strategy Academy covers all aspects of digital marketing including search optimization & marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, video marketing, mobile marketing & public relations.