Is there any doubt in your mind that the world is going mobile? Depending on which study you believe over half of Americans over the age of 18 own and use smartphones and tablets. Next year, 2014, the internet will be accessed more frequently by wireless devices than PCs. If you think about it, how people are accessing the internet has an enormous impact on how effective your internet marketing efforts will be. So, is your website mobile compatible so you can make the most of all website visitors?
To illustrate that point take a moment and think about how you use your mobile device and what experiences, good and bad that you’ve had with it. When do you use it? Where are you when you use it? What activities do you use it for more than your PC? And most importantly…how dependent have you become on your mobile device? Where you ever as dependent on your PC?
Understanding Mobile Trends For Your Business
Instantaneous Connection Breeds Urgency
In the good old days of say two or three years ago, if you were in the field on a job you would wait until you got back to the shop to check your email on your PC. Today of course you check it 8 to 10 times a day on your mobile if you are like most mobile users.
Because the information is available anywhere at any time we have developed a sense of urgency or restated, have no patience if we have to wait for something to load on our phone or tablet. Google understands this and it is quick to present its returns to your search. But if the link you click on takes more than a few seconds to load you typically are on to the next listing.
Same thing for emails. If you get a promotional email loaded with images that never load you are likely to delete or page back. People just don’t have time when using mobiles…at least they don’t think they do.
So What Does Your Site Look Like On Your Phone
When is the last time you accessed your site on your small screen? How fast does it load? Do you have to scroll around to read a page? Amazingly small businesses have not adapted responsive programming to sniff out how a page is being accessed and serving up a mobile optimized page if appropriate.
Of course that assumes that the site has been optimized for mobile which most have not.
If potentially half of your prospects and customers are trying to connect to you via mobile it is obvious that you want that experience to be as easy and “instantaneous” as possible. Partner with a trusted digital marketing agency for online support.
Here’s something else to consider. Over half of the leads or inquiries for local businesses come via the phone. If your pages include a “click to call” or “click to email” you are a leg up on the competition. Appealing to that sense of urgency will pay off.
Of course the best way to lock in existing customers is by offering useful applications but that’s a whole subject of its own and we’ll cover it later. Just be aware that simply having an attractive, informative website is no longer enough. You have to consider how it is going to interact with a whole new wave of traffic coming from small screen owners. Now is the time to take a look at your businesses website and whether it’s mobile compatible. If not, make that part of your 2014 marketing plan.
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