One thing that I am sure you all will agree with but probably not realised is that mobiles convert organic searches into action much faster than you think. The reason for this is because mobiles have the extra ability to make a call that a PC may not have. Okay yes you knew that but so what? Well if you are looking for an SEO specialist, you would just Google it and tap on the number and call them, therefore your organic search resulted in action faster in comparison to emailing them from your laptop or then going to call them. I know it seems so basic but the ease of access making life so much simpler is what makes this possible.
So you’re thinking of contacting your web design agency and telling them to get right on to creating a mobile friendly website? Before you do that, the latest word from Google is that ‘responsive design’ is actually better than building a mobile specific site. I am almost certain that whoever is reading this has a smartphone, we all have them nowadays and there is no argument that they are getting better and getting better fast! With devices improving, Google reckons it is better to respond by making sure that your website works on all kinds of devices (CSS is good for this). This is massive bonus for the SEO guys because it gets rid of the nightmare of providing consistent content between two different websites.
Okay so you’ve decided that you have to have a mobile site because, to be fair, pretty much everyone has a smart phone. So if you are going to make your website responsive, then don’t dumb it down. I think it is important to realise that you have to make your site touch friendly as it is cursor friendly. So keep the same or similar content but adapt it so users can navigate easier, for example, vertical scrolling. Vertical scrolling makes using a website a breeze. You don’t get frustrated by complicated usability features and functions that complicated websites enforce – how many times have you clicked on the wrong thing using a touch screen!
If you want to be really savvy,
then I would strongly recommend that you get an app for your business. The power of such a tool should not be underestimated by any means! Not only would an app provide your clients with information about your business such as contact details, but also latest deals, products and offers. An app is a “free” advertisement medium. Think for example if you sell a product, whether it be real estate or office supplies, having the power to let people know of a sale, an offer or a stock clearance, you could share it all via your app. An app truly is a fantastic tool. Not only that, you can integrate your app with social media sites such as; Twitter and Facebook to increase your exposure potential. The pros of this are that your customers and clients don’t get spammed with emails and that they are able to take action on the information (see converting searches into action earlier). However a decent app does require a substantial investment, but in the long term this would definitely be worthwhile, especially if your business is in the retail industry. Mobile apps are a good investment if you have some spare cash, it more depends on what type of business you have, some businesses will see less benefit than others.
Overall it is important to have an optimised website to respond to the ever growing number of mobile users. Also don’t forget tablets, these are one of the fastest selling gadgets in history, this is yet another reason as to why it is essential for you to own and develop one specific website. Imagine the pre-lava of updating and developing several different websites for desktop, tablet, mobile and future technologies!