Your mobile advertising strategy is an integral part of your holistic ad strategy. Don’t make the mistake of neglecting ad layout, ad design, and site experience when it comes to your mobile web presence. Here are a few quick mobile advertising tips to help you make sure you’re on the right track.
Make sure your site is responsive
Your site will show up on a user’s phone no matter what, but a responsive ad map means that your readers will see a mobile-friendly version of your site, instead of a teeny tiny version of your desktop layout. Therefore, it’s important that the number and placement of ads on your mobile layout makes sense. It might not interfere with a desktop display to have 5 ads on a given page, but if they’re crammed into the spaces between paragraphs on a single mobile article, they might not work so well.
Consider the experience of your users: ad-stuffing is never a good idea, and an ad layout that’s non-intrusive and tailored to mobile browsing will keep visitors happy, and keep them on your site longer. Returning readers = more revenue.
Create Google AMP pages for mobile
Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is an open-source HTML framework that creates fast-loading and user-friendly pages that work across multiple devices and platforms. By stripping out extraneous code and branding, AMP pages can run anywhere from 15-80% faster on mobile devices. Load times directly influence everything from bounce rates to conversion rates, so even if you’re not building AMP pages, make sure you’re not driving readers away with poor mobile performance. Aim for page load times under 3 seconds. If nobody ever makes it to your page, you won’t earn any money.
Sticky footers are your friend
Viewability on mobile sites can be low. Because screen real estate is limited, ads are typically smaller and people scroll quickly. Sticky footers are typically mobile banners that sit at the bottom of the page as a user scrolls through content. They are an easy, non-invasive way to increase your site’s mobile viewability, in turn increasing the value of that inventory to programmatic buyers.
Consider pre-roll ads on mobile video
Since more and more people are watching and engaging with content on their phones, mobile video and pre-rolls on existing mobile video players can be a great way to serve ads to engaged users. These ads are more likely to remain in-view for longer periods of time, increasing their viewability and value. Video in general also commands higher CPMs than standard display ads, so your page RPM will increase as well.
Keep your mobile advertising mix diverse
We’ve already talked about tailoring your display and video ads to work on mobile, but don’t forget to make sure your mobile pages are set up for eCommerce as well. More purchases are made on phones and tablets than ever before, so making sure your strong eCommerce pages are set up for mobile as well will help you to capture that audience.
Next steps
Optimization is no easy task, whether on desktop or mobile. That’s why our Gold ad management team builds custom strategies for every publisher. We’ll help you build and maintain your demand stack, diversify your advertising revenue, and grow your earnings. If you’re interested in higher revenue and better performance, set up a free consultation with our team.
