Mobile devices are everywhere. Just take a look around the next time you’re in a coffee shop, waiting at the doctor’s office, or in line almost anywhere. It’s not uncommon to see someone scrolling through social media or browsing websites to help pass time while they wait.
Many people also admit to browsing online or shopping right before they drift off to sleep at night as a way to unwind. Approximately 1.2 billion people access the internet from mobile devices and 58% of people who own mobile devices have used them at some point for shopping.
To top off those statistics, an astonishing 88% of people agree that owning mobile devices that have internet access has made them more spontaneous when it comes to shopping and discovering new items and companies. However, none of these numbers mean anything if your company isn’t mobile friendly.
Users with mobile devices are looking for websites that load quickly and look nice and clean. Living in our fast paced world leaves little time to sit around waiting for a website to load and impatient shoppers will frequently move on to something else if the website is slow or difficult to read.
The best way to decide if your company is getting mobile traffic is by using the Mobile report from Google Analytics. If it appears that your desktop traffic is significantly increased over traffic from mobile devices then it could be a result of having a non-mobile friendly website. If you already have a large number of users from mobile devices then you should consider how you can continue to make the experience better for them.
The best thing you can do to help customers accessing your site through their mobile devices is to create a responsive design for your webpage. Responsive design means that the concept of your website will translate accordingly over multiple platforms, including mobile devices. If you’re unfamiliar with this process then you may be better off hiring a marketing company, such as Portside Marketing, to handle or assist you with creating a responsive design for your webpage.
It’s important to remember when building or remodeling your website is how it will come across on mobile devices. Most people who are accessing your website from their mobile devices are probably doing so while they’re on the go or have a limited amount of time available. This tends to mean that they don’t want to read massive blocks of text or wade through menu after menu to get what they want. They want results and they want them quickly. Keeping information limited and to the point provides the important details that they need to know, without overloading mobile devices with extra information.
Ideally, a graphic that appears nicely on all mobile devices and a short amount of text is a winning combination for a home page. If your home page has links, make sure that they’re bold and big enough for your customers to see, even on the smaller mobile devices. Try to avoid using forms if possible, and if you can’t try to keep the forms as short as you can. Make contact information prominent so that users can quickly find it. If your business has a physical location then add a user friendly map so they are able to quickly see where you are located.
Pay close attention to the areas of your webpage that mobile users access most and focus on making these more user friendly on all mobile devices. For example, if you are a restaurant, find a way to create a user friendly menu that functions well on all mobile devices. Your customer may be looking to place a quick order for pick up or make a reservation if something on the menu appeals to them. If you have a menu that takes a long time to load and is difficult to read will likely discourage your potential customers.
Many companies now have mobile apps. Don’t get into the mindset that your company has a mobile app so there’s no reason for you to adapt your website for mobile devices. By doing this, you could be preventing a whole new generation of customers from doing business with you. Mobile apps are great, but they shouldn’t be considered to be a replacement for a responsive website design that works on every mobile device. Some people prefer not to download apps and some may not have access for whatever reason. It’s important that you make your app and your website user friendly for mobile devices to maximize your customer potential.