Well, not really, but desktops have officially dropped to the second most popular way to view a website. And like a popular fictional Nascar driver said, “If you’re not first, you’re last!”
What’s in first? Mobile phones! As of 2015, more people have a smartphone than a computer. Almost 80% of all Internet searches are completed through a smartphone. How amazing is that?!
What does this mean for you, the business owner? It means creating a website and marketing strategy that is built and targeted for mobile phone usage is the most important thing you can do to help your business.
Walk through the scenario with me here. You’ve spent thousands on billboards, radio, TV commercials, online ads and SEO optimization—all to get potential clients to notice you, pique their interests, motivate them to come to your website to learn more, then buy and become a customer. Excellent. Now that customer, intrigued by your marketing message, gets out their mobile phone and searches for your website. Through that small screen, they stop by your online house.
What do they see? (Go head, take your your phone and do it! I’ll wait.)
Do they see a beautiful, fast-loading website that has been built for a mobile phone with easy-to-read lettering, images, and buttons all nicely spaced and stacked?
OR
Do they see a slow-loading desktop website, all small and hard to read, that forces them to pinch and zoom and tap on the wrong links because the buttons are so small and close together. The customer’s emotion has now gone from intrigued to angry. BAD! We want them to go from intrigued to excited to proud to be a customer!
If they had the first experience . . . Awesome! Pat yourself on the back. You’re moving in the right direction. If they had the second, you’re pouring marketing money down the drain and losing potential customers left and right.
According to one infographic from Kissmetrics, 67% of users reported they were more likely to make a purchase from a site that’s mobile-friendly, and 52% said they’d be less likely to engage with a business if the mobile experience wasn’t up to par.
Another survey by Kissmetrics showed a mere one-second delay in page load time would reduce converting visitors to customers by as much as 7 percent. Wow!
Lastly, 93% of consumers place visual appearance and color above other factors when shopping. What does this all mean? If your customers see a website that isn’t up to today’s standards — one that isn’t providing a good mobile phone experience — they are likely to become your competitors’ customers.
In this mobile era, it’s critical to have a website that is designed and optimized for use on a mobile phone. If your website didn’t quite provide a great mobile experience, contact a professional web development company (like Social5) to help capture more clients with the same amount of marketing dollars.
