How Different are Mobile vs Desktop Search Results (SERPs)?

TL;DR

Case Study 1: Why Didn’t This Client Lose Calls Despite Dropping in Google Rankings?

It’s a common belief in SEO: when rankings drop, so do the calls. But for one client, this wasn’t the case. Exploring why led me to a hidden factor in local search that most SEOs overlook.

One of our clients saw their keyword ranking drop from position 3 to position 4 which pushed them out of the local pack. Naturally, you’d expect a decrease in calls, right? Surprisingly, that didn’t happen.

As we dug into the data, we found something. Most of the client’s traffic was coming from mobile users, not desktop. 

And guess what? Mobile search results for this keyword display a 2-pack, not a 3-pack. The client was never in the 2-pack to begin with. 

Even though the ranking dropped, it didn’t impact the client’s calls because the mobile search results showed something completely different.

Case Study 2:  Why Tracking Mobile Rankings is Essential for SEO

We saw a similar case with a real estate client. When I checked their business profile, I saw that one of their top queries was ‘real estate.’ 

But here’s the catch—that term doesn’t show local packs on desktop searches.

 However, the majority of their traffic was from mobile, where local packs do show up!

The Importance of Tracking Mobile Rankings

A lot of rank trackers only scan desktop search results, which can lead to incomplete data. Mobile results are a different game, often showing local packs that don’t appear on desktop. So, when you’re tracking rankings, it’s not just about where you rank, but whether you show up in the local pack.

If you’ve seen Google mobile search results with a local pack that doesn’t appear on desktop, share your experience in the comments! We’ve noticed it happens more often than you’d think, and it can be a game-changer for local SEO.