cell phone witmobile websiteh wood background

Mobile Friendly Websites Are A Must

Mobile Friendly Websites Are A Must

It’s official – internet traffic from mobile devices has surpassed traffic from desktop systems. That may or may not surprise you. If you need help suspending your doubt, simply open your mobile’s app library. You’ll soon notice that a vast number of apps rely on internet access to varying degrees. From social media platforms to workplace productivity applications, more and more of the global digital landscape is trending toward mobile-first usage. As this trend continues, ensuring your website is mobile friendly is more vital to your success than ever before.

Social Media And Mobile Traffic

Love it or hate it, social media has had a profound influence on the traffic shift from desktop to mobile. Two platforms – Facebook and YouTube – presently make up over 30% of mobile traffic. Though the day’s preferred platform is constantly in flux, people are spending more time on social media overall. Every major social media hub is geared toward mobile-first access. For example, have you ever tried using Instagram on a proper computer? Better yet, you’ll need a pile of good luck to send your next snap story from a computer, as SnapChat is mobile-exclusive as far as real usage is concerned. This increased attention on social media is impacting time spent on mobile devices. Meeting your customers where they spend time is common sense in the world of business marketing. Don’t focus on desktop tuning while your next customer is checking out the competition from their smart phone.

Similarly, social media has become a powerful tool for brand engagement and customer relations. Consumers expect the brands they support to be attuned to their needs and wants, and assume they can easily move between the digital places controlled by those brands. Part of that assumption is derived from the expectation that websites can be easily navigated on mobile devices. According to a 2016 study conducted by Google, 53% of mobile customers will abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Accordingly, this has a direct affect on a site’s bounce-rate and packs a punch when looking at search engine ranking results.

Mobile Online Buying and Selling

For e-commerce sites, mobile optimization is crucial to success. Large retailers like eBay and Amazon have even developed mobile apps to allow users to easily access every feature of their site! Seamless shopping allows customers to add an item to their cart on a desktop and complete the purchase from a hand held device. Mobile optimized sites streamline the purchase process and encourage shoppers to spend more. Nearly 8 in 10 mobile shoppers report spending more time and making more impulse buys on device friendly websites.

Trends to Consider for Mobile Friendly Sites in 2018

Beyond the numerous reasons to optimize your website for mobile, it is essential to understand how to make the most of it:

Stop waiting to fine tune your website for mobile navigation – just do it!
Reach out to us today to learn more about making your website mobile-friendly.

Help Alexa and Siri Find Your Business During Voice Search

You Can’t Just Tell Voice Search About Your Business

Voice search is when a human tells Alexa or Siri or another voice activated device to go on the internet and look for an item or information rather than typing their query into a search engine browser themselves.

“As far back as 2014, Google’s official blog reported that 55 percent of teens and 41 percent of adults in the U.S. were already surfing the Web with voice search. Now, Google predicts that half of all search traffic will use voice search by 2020.” – Website Magazine.

This is great for Google, Apple and Amazon, but it also means websites need to be sure their search engine optimization is prepared for voice search.

Long Tail Search Keywords

People tend to talk naturally to their devices, generally they are asking a question, contrary to just typing in a few keywords and a city to find results traditionally.  This is known as “long tail search terms” versus “keyword terms”.

Example:

Voice Search: “Okay Google, find a union printer near me”

Google Web Browser: “Union Printer Pittsburgh”

Local Search Optimization

Mobile device searches frequently are for services or products “Near Me” so it’s vital that your local listings are up to date and fully optimized. The big directory sites are also starting to be sources for the voice search engines, so make sure your listings are accurate and up to date on the credible directory sites.

Online Reviews

Siri wants to send users to the best rated organizations near their users. This means online reviews are vital to help your site be the answer Siri gives, rather than your competitor.

Mobile Optimized

Google started penalizing website that were not search engine optimized a few years ago. We still have unions and organizations coming to us to get their old websites up to 2018 standards so their website loads quickly and is responsive on devices. If someone is on the move doing a mobile search they are not going to wait for heavy images or files to load on your website.

Alexa, Where’s My Business?

When we launch a new website for a client or perform SEO services our packages include submitting the websites to the biggest search engines our list, that list includes making sure Alexa and Siri have the information and tracking codes they need to find the website.