Having a mobile friendly website might sound blatantly obvious but you’d be surprised by how many businesses overlook this important factor when creating their business website. Website traffic originating from mobile users has jumped from 0.7% share of the traffic in 2009 to a massive 52.2% in 2018 and with a growth like that it’s only set to get bigger and bigger.
Percentage of all global web pages served to mobile phones from 2009 to 2018 – Statista
With statistics like these, having a mobile friendly website is essential for optimum user experience, if your mobile site is optimised, users are likely to have a much more enjoyable experience navigating to what they are looking to find and therefore the easier it is for them the more likely you will see a conversion to a sale.
We’ve listed some key areas which benefit from having a mobile friendly website and whilst implementing these can seem like a minefield, most companies have in-house experts on hand or employ the help of a digital marketing agency that has the expertise required to make the changes needed.
Increased Mobile Conversion Rate
Along with creating a more improved user experience, a fully optimised website for mobile is more likely to have an increased conversion rate. Adding Calls to Action to your website can make or break a conversion rate! Having a Call to Action on the device is essential in getting your visitors to perform the desired action.
Improving User Experience
User experience is quite often overlooked until something goes wrong, with statistics showing that only 55% of companies are currently conducting any user experience testing. Having a streamlined web design across all devices creating the optimum user experience is likely to set you apart from your competitors. A website that is fully optimised for mobile, quick to upload, user friendly and is clear & concise has a much higher chance of being re-visited time after time.
Download Speed
Mobile internet often provides the fastest connections especially if the infrastructure is such that there is no funding for traditional and expensive landline connections. It comes as no surprise that mobile traffic share in Africa is 59.5% and Asia 65.1%. Having a mobile site that is quick to load and responsive to user requirements is essential for a successful conversion. Google have a feature called Test My Site which scores your site for mobile friendliness, mobile speed and download speed. This is a good place to start when planning your mobile optimisation strategy.
Cheaper than Developing an App
There’s no doubt that mobile app development has exploded over the last few years and for good reason, they’re user friendly and done right can be the main source of traffic. However app development can be expensive. Mobile sites have a broader audience reach and for SEO purposes mobile optimized sites are now ranked higher in search engine results pages, meaning companies with mobile-friendly websites are more likely to rank higher.
Ability to Engage Local Customers
Having a mobile friendly website that takes advantage of the Google’s ‘Near me’ feature is vital in pulling in new customers who are in local proximity to your business. Google reported that users who regularly use the term, ‘near me’ with terms such as ‘can I buy’ has increased 500% taken from data between 2015 – 2017. Therefore, ensuring your mobile website has functions like mapping and click-to-call is essential in pulling in these new customers.
To re-cap, the benefits of having a mobile friendly website are:
- Better mobile conversion rate
- Better user experience
- Increased download speed
- Cheaper than app development
- Adapts to geographical searches
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