Why it’s important to optimise your website for mobile
Even the most adaptable and tech-savvy people can quickly fall behind the curve in the tech world, especially when it comes to mobiles. However, as a small business owner it’s your responsibility to keep on the ball so your company doesn’t fall behind. You might have heard about optimising your website for mobile, but what does this mean and is it a worthwhile investment? Here’s everything you need to know about optimising your website for mobile.
The rise of the smartphone
In less than two decades we have already seen mobile devices develop from simple two-way pagers to being mobile phones, GPS navigation devices, handheld gaming consoles, instant messaging clients and even mobile web browsers. It would be easier to say there’s not a whole lot mobile devices can’t do. However, the flexibility mobile devices create also come with expectations from your customers that your business will adapt to the mobile realm.
Customer expectations
With the skyrocketing of the smartphone came the skyrocketing of customer expectations. Nowadays, nearly all of businesses can be found online via mobile devices. So, if you are still waiting to optimise your website for mobile use, then you are incredibly late to the game. Without mobile optimisation, customers will overlook your business when they search for your goods or services online.
Digital transformation
Before 2007, mobile optimisation was barely a thing. Flash forward eleven years and wow have things changed. Today you rarely encounter websites that haven’t been optimised for mobile because it just doesn’t make sense not to optimise them.
Australia has become a digital nation with mobile phones used by 97% of Australians and the internet used weekly by 90% of us, the latest EMMA (Enhanced Media Metrics Australia) “Digital Australia” Product Insights Report has revealed. The report also showed over seven out of 10 Australians are using their mobiles to access the internet.
In 2016, mobile web browsing usage over took desktop browsing usage for the first time. Aodhan Cullen, chief executive of StatCounter, said, “This should be a wake-up call especially for small businesses, sole traders and professionals to make sure that their websites are mobile friendly. Many older websites are not.
“Mobile compatibility is increasingly important not just because of growing traffic but because Google favours mobile-friendly websites for its mobile search results.”
Marketing 101
The golden rule in marketing is “sell unto others as you would have them sell unto you.” A website of any kind is trying to sell an experience or content of some sort. Personally, you would want to browse a neatly packaged website. You want to browse a page that loads quickly and isn’t segmented awkwardly all over the screen. You do not wish to subject yourself to headache-inducing font or borders that don’t fit the page. You expect a certain experience when you navigate online, so do not subject your potential customers to subpar experiences.
Mobile optimisation is not only necessary for human usability. Optimisation also comes into play when search engines crawl sites and determine how they will be ranked. So, without mobile optimisation, it’s no wonder why your websites rank is performing poorly.
So, here’s the hard truth. If your business website is not optimised for mobile you will not meet the expectations of your potential customers and will be overlooked. As a result, your business will suffer. The good news is there is still time to optimise, and it is not as hard as it might seem!
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Remember to get in touch with the team at Techwell for digital technology solutions that enable your business to thrive. Let us take care of your technology, so you can focus on what matters most.
Scott Kennedy
