The way we search for and browse websites is changing – and according to statistics from various sources, more and more of us are moving towards browsing the web via our phones and tablets away from our laptops and PCs. Therefore, anyone who owns or operates a website is going to need to start thinking about how best to approach mobile users – it’s not simply a case of making sure your site is easy to use, either – as a website that is mobile-friendly will impact positively upon your brand image and consumer appeal too. Let’s take a closer look at why leading with mobile design is the best move your business can make online right now.
If your website is wide, clunky and hard to read and navigate through via phone or tablet, you are going to risk alienating a huge section of your audience. Why lead with a PC-only web design when the majority of visitors to your website are likely to be finding you via mobile? It simply makes sense to show that you care about the user’s experience as it not only impacts upon their ability to view your pages, but also upon your credibility and brand image.
Following on from the point above, a fast-loading, responsive and fluid website design that is built with mobile in mind – or is at least built to respond to various devices – will keep people around and visiting for more. Standard websites that are slow and require serious ‘pinching’ to be able to access various features and
menus will quickly shed interest as the mobile revolution continues to build.
If you’re looking to boost your conversion rate, mobile optimisation is your friend. Standard websites, when viewed via phones or tablets, can be difficult to navigate and connect with as some details can be squirrelled away out of view – whereas mobile sites, and those that are classed as fully responsive, present calls to action and buttons that customers need up front for them to access from the word go. It simply means less dawdling around for your visitors.
The ‘back’ button is your enemy. It’s thought that visitors to a website will make up their mind as to whether or not it is useful within a few seconds – and a website that is not optimised for mobile access will struggle to convert on this. You need a mobile-friendly site that will present everything up front to captivate interest and to promote ease of use. A website that is hard to use and is crammed full of unnecessary jargon will likely see visitors hitting ‘back’ at your expense.
Proposed updates to Google’s algorithm will see websites that offer a mobile site pushed to the top of search listings. This will not undo SEO entirely, but it will mean that any websites that fail to offer at least a responsive or alternative experience for mobile users will be doomed to fall down the listings and get buried by the competition. The thought of Google penalising you for not going mobile should ideally be enough to sway you – if the other points we’ve made haven’t already!
SEO CoPilot are experts in mobile design from the ground-up – meaning that we’ll convert your brand into a mobile-friendly powerhouse from the word go! For more information on how to prepare for the ongoing mobile revolution, or to consult with our team on how we can boost your business potential with phone and tablet users, call us today on 01246 540869 – or email us with a query at your convenience!
