Mobile Friendly Websites | Your Consumers Want Them!

Consumers to Businesses | Make Your Website Mobile Friendly…or Else

Can a mobile friendly website really help my customers and help restore the economy? As you know, our economy is recovering…slowly. Very slowly. Despite the fact that Wall Street appears to have recovered nicely, many folks on Main Street are still worrying about losing their jobs to cutbacks and remain burdened by consumer credit card debt. Simply speaking, these are still trying times for consumers. Here’s what that means for you as a business owner: You simply can’t make it more difficult for people to buy your products or services…

Unfortunately, many local businesses aren’t making things easy when it comes to their websites.

As more and more customers are trying to find nearby businesses with their mobile devices (according to Google, 1 in 3 searches are for local information) businesses are still running antiquated sites that look like crap (let’s face it), on smartphones and tablets.

Are you chasing away customers?

How serious of an issue is this? The MarketingVOX blog recently ran an excellent post outlining the dangers that businesses face when they don’t operate mobile friendly websites. The post quoted a report from Google showing that:

• 2/3 of consumers say that they’re more likely to buy products and services from a mobile friendly site.
• 61 percent of consumers say that they’ll quickly leave a mobile site if they can’t find the information they need immediately.
• The Google survey also found that 96 percent of consumers say they’ve stumbled upon websites that were not designed for mobile devices. And half of consumers stated that even if they like a business, they’ll purchase from it less often if the business’s website isn’t mobile friendly. And on the plus side? A full 74 percent claim that they’re apt to come back to a mobile friendly website.

What you must do: Optimize for mobile!

What does this really mean to the business owner? Only that maintaining a mobile friendly website is critical—and becoming more so. Take a look around you: You’ll see a steady stream of consumers browsing the web on phones, iPads, Nooks, and Kindles. And this is a movement that’s hardly slowing. Tablets remain hot sellers, and an increasing number of consumers do much of their web surfing and social media activities through mobile devices. According to a joint Google/Ipsos study, after consumers look up a business via mobile, 61% say they make a phone call and 59% say they visit the business!

The message is clear: If you make a bad impression, if your business’s website looks cramped, cluttered, or illegible when viewed with a tablet or smartphone, you have the real risk of driving potential customers to your competitors!