Mobile optimization is key, especially considering smart phones are taking over. In the US it is estimated that by the year 2021 smartphone penetration related to total population will be 72.7%. With smartphones becoming more sophisticated they are now essentially small, hand-held computers, and constantly using them to surf the web.
So, what does this mean for your business? Well, it’s simple – if your website is not optimized for cell phone usage, there can be damaging implications and missed opportunities. Following are 5 reasons why your website needs mobile optimization.
Over half of website traffic is mobile
Google hates sites that aren’t mobile optimized
Don’t know if your website is mobile optimized? Put your site in here, and find out. This is a free website performance tool provided by HubSpot. Enter your website into the website field and click get your answer. You do not need to put in your email address. After you click get your answer, there will be a score for your mobile. If the score comes out as less than 30/30, your site is not fully mobile friendly.
Over half of website traffic is mobile
Last year, 58% of site visits were from mobile devices. Take a second to digest this. That means that over half of the visitors that are coming to your website are viewing it on a mobile device. That total percentage has stayed over the 50% mark for the past three years so it’s safe to assume this trend isn’t going to change anytime soon.
Google hates sites that aren’t mobile friendly
We’ve written a blog on how to get your website to rank on Google, and there are a number of factors that go into your Google ranking. We’ve detailed how important speed is, but mobile optimization is a close second.
Google pushes websites that they believe will produce a great user-experience for the visitor. If a website is not optimized to render on a mobile device, Google views that as a negative user-experience. From their perspective, if someone searches for something through Google on their mobile device, why would they push a website that doesn’t function on that mobile device? This brings us to our next point – users switching between screens.
Users frequently switch screens
It has been well documented that consumers view your website prior to making a buying decision. On top of that, consumers will view your website multiple times, and not always on their desktop. While they may start by looking at what you can provide from their desktop, it is not rare for that same person to go to your website from their cell phone at a later date. Think about driving a prospect through the sales funnel and losing traction because your website didn’t function properly on their cell phone.
Social media effectiveness
Almost all of the social media traffic comes through mobile devices. Following what percentage of total traffic is mobile for the major social media platforms.
If your company has a social media presence or does any social media marketing, having your website mobile responsive is an absolute must. If a user is looking at your company’s facebook page, and they want to view your website, they will click on the link to your website and be directed to the mobile version of your site. Not having your website effective on that device will hurt the brand you’ve worked so hard to build up.
Separate your brand
Having your website mobile optimized can help separate your business from your competitors, very similar to the way your website can. This is especially true if you work in an industry where many of your competitors websites are not mobile optimized.
Considering over half of website traffic takes place through mobile devices, it’s safe to assume that potential customers are performing Google searches for services while on their phones. During this Google search they are probably clicking on different company websites and viewing what they can offer. If the sites that the user is visiting through their Google search are not mobile responsive, and yours is, you can use this as an opportunity to solidify how legitimate you are.
Conclusion
There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to having an effective website, but having your website designed with mobile optimization in mind is key. The numbers don’t lie, and if you’re looking at it the right way, this can be viewed as an opportunity to further improve your digital marketing efforts. At the end of the day, you want to use your website as a way to accomplish your business goals. Having your website optimized for mobile use will help with that.
