Reasons Small Business Need to Go Mobile In 2017

When mobile websites started to gain traction just a few years ago, they were the cutting edge. The idea of a website that displayed perfectly on Smart devices with no pinching, zooming, or re-sizing necessary was a novelty. Only the most tech-savvy business owners added one to their marketing arsenal. But time travels fast in the world of technology. What used to be a novelty has quickly become a staple of successful online practice marketing. And the world has changed so drastically that now, if you’re not using one, your bottom line is probably much smaller than it could be. Here’s why:

1. Mobile Use has Grown 500 Percent over the Last Two Years (Google)

The mobile space is exploding, and so is the number of new customers it can bring to your practice. The growth of the last two years is only going to continue, and that means the number of clients relying on your website to be mobile-ready is getting bigger every day. If you want to keep and hold their attention, your information needs to be mobile-optimized so that it’s as appealing as it is accessible.

2. More People use Mobile Phones than Toothbrushes (Mobile Marketing Association) 

That might seem crazy, but it’s true. The MMA estimates that 4.5 billion people worldwide use mobile phones, while only 4.2 billion use toothbrushes. That’s bad for teeth, but great for anybody with a mobile site. Numbers like that were unimaginable just a short while ago, but the message they send is clear; Mobile isn’t taking the world by storm. It already has.

3. Smart Devices Are Responsible for 28 percent of Global Internet Traffic (MarketingLand)

Here’s something else to chew on. More than a quarter of all traffic on the Internet comes from mobile devices. That means that at least l/4th of your potential new patients and referrals will see your mobile site (or lack thereof) before any other messaging your practice has to offer. It’s crucial to make sure that this all-important first impression lives up to their expectations.

4. 74 Percent of Mobile Users will not Wait Longer than Five Seconds for a Page to Load (Compuware)

Five seconds. That’s all you have to capture the attention and business of a new mobile patient. That time ticks by pretty quickly— it’s probably already passed in the time it took you to read this sentence. Mobile sites are engineered to deliver faster results than their traditional counterparts. They feature an optimized display and much lower loading times, and that means your site is up and running before that tiny five-second window has passed.

5. Not Having a Mobile Website Hurts your SEO Ranking (Search Engine Journal) 

Google updates its algorithms at a head-spinning rate, but many of its more recent edits are placing a strong emphasis on tailoring search results to an individual device. In other words, Google responds to mobile search requests with mobile-optimized results. If you have a mobile website, that gives you preferential treatment, and an edge over your local competition. However, it also means that if your site isn’t mobile-ready, there’s a good chance it won’t appear in those search results (now 28 percent of all search requests) at all.

The good news is that getting a mobile website, complex as it might sound, is actually not a difficult process. Your website provider should be able to provide one in a very short timeframe. If you don’t already have one, give them a call. It’s probably the easiest way to reach more clients than ever before.

It is very important to have a strong Web presence for your business to survive. Whether you run an eCommerce website or not, it is still as important for your customers to find you online. Customers should be able to find you on multiple search engines in their top results — where their journey is most likely to begin.

Eighty percent of visitors search online before making any decision and 89 percent search the Internet for information and research. Therefore, it is worse to be invisible than fail completely.  To ensure that your business always stays visible in this ever-changing world of SEO, you must learn a few significant developments in search engine optimization:

Mobile-First Indexing

Conventionally, Google has followed desktop version of a website to conclude the site’s significance and conclude its standing in search results. In November 2016, Google identified that most o f its users now search on mobile devices, and the algorithms are now in the early stages of mobile-first indexing. If you are using a responsive website, which means your desktop version is capable of adapting its appearance according to the user’s platform across different devices, then your website is optimized for Google. But a separate mobile site or no mobile site at all – means you have to re-do your website. You may use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to ensure your website is mobile friendly and that it uses relevant content for your visitors.

There are countless agencies providing consultation for evaluating your search engine optimization and also help you strategize, but one open source method which is worth looking at is Accelerated Mobile Pages. Another form of HTML is called AMP which is intended to accelerate loading of mobile webpages — and it is worth noting that speed matters when we speak about mobile-first index.

Semantic Search

Search is not about keywords; it is more about context. In reality, it is not about what; rather it is about why customers are looking for what they are searching. This is where semantic search comes into action. The idea is that if a search engine can corroborate an individual’s needs by probing factors such as locality, earlier searches and linked concepts, it will bring results that are more pertinent, precise and personalized.

Understanding your customers’ needs and objective is indeed more important than ever if you want to connect with them online. It is always advisable to map out the profiles of your customers or sort out the profiles of your favorite customers and their needs. Who, where, what and why are some of the greatest challenges that, if discovered and resolved, will lead to loyal customers. Add content to your website which has high value for the visitors and get to the point quickly and concisely in the very initial chunk of text to help Google distinguish the sense of your content more efficiently.

Ian Naylor is the founder and CEO of AppInstitute, one of the world’s leading DIY App Builders with more than 70,000 apps built. Naylor has founded, grown and sold four successful Internet and technology companies during the past 18 years around the world. He gives seminars as an expert authority on startup mobile app trends, development and online marketing and has spoken at numerous industry events including The Great British Business Show, Venturefest, the National Achievers Congress and numerous industry exhibitions around the UK. AppInstitute regularly provides leading publications with app analytics, business data, case studies, white papers and statistics for established publishers across the world. They were named in the top 50 creative companies in England by Creative England.

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