Mobile Marketing is taking the world by storm. New and advanced technologies are paving the way in terms of businesses and m-commerce growth. Every day new and improved digital platforms are being created to help businesses reach out to their customers, drive more traffic to their stores and generate more sales.
If you think mobile technologies have advanced at break-neck speeds over the past decade, wait until you see what’s in store for us over the coming months and years. Recent research shows that mobile media and technology is expected to grow 5 times faster than the internet did over the next few years. One of the main forms of digital growth being seen today is mobile device usage. Everyone uses their mobile phones every single day, several times per day – they always have them with them.
However, it’s important to note that mobile phones are no longer just for making calls. Thanks to the recent surge in Smart Phones sales – which will only increase over the next year – people are spending more and more time surfing the web via their mobile devices today than ever before. In fact, over half of all Local Searches are performed on a mobile phone. While on the go, people tend to look for local business information right from their mobile devices. This means they are looking at websites on their mobile phones. Unfortunately, most businesses do not have a mobile-friendly website… yet – approximately 82% of them. In fact, many of them are not even aware that their websites are almost impossible to view on most mobile devices.
Here are a few tips to help you think about how to start mobilizing your web presence:
1. Check for Mobile Plug-ins If your website is a Content Management System like WordPress, check out some of the mobile plug-ins that may be available to mobilize your website. Plug-ins have to be configured correctly in order to work so use caution if you are doing it yourself.
2. Create a Separate Mobile Version of Your Website If you have a traditional website, having a “mobilized” version of your website built is ideal. This way, whenever someone visits your main website with a mobile device, they will automatically be redirected to the mobile version of your site via a custom mobile device detection redirect script installed on your main website; creating a far more pleasant experience allowing them to find exactly what they need without the frustration of lengthy download times and hard to read & locate information.
3. DO NOT Use FLASH on Your Mobile Website Avoid using FLASH applications, movies or animation on your mobile website. Though often quite beautiful and dynamic, FLASH isn’t supported by and cannot be rendered on most mobile devices – In other words, it can’t be seen. In addition, due to the nature of the application, FLASH will increase your website’s download time exponentially, which makes the viewer grow frustrated and leave your site looking for one a little more user-friendly (Hopefully not your competition’s).
4. Only Include What’s Important on Your Mobile Website Often times there is a desire to put everything you have on your main company website onto your mobilized version. However, since mobile phone screens are considerably smaller compared to a computer, you can only put so much information on a mobile website. While planning out your site, try to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Ask yourself these questions: Who are you? What do you do? Where do I find you? and How do I get there? Answering these questions and ensuring this information (phone number, hours of operation, directions to your establishment and services you provide) will help you tailor a true mobile experience for your customer as they visit your mobile site and help you stand out from your competition. CLICK HERE to see some examples.
Never lose a customer again due to a poorly rendered website on a mobile device…
