It can be very tempting to think that mobile optimised websites are just a fad and are not really needed for your business. Just because your website loads on a mobile phone does not mean its mobile friendly.
You might think big deal, not many people visit our website on mobile anyway and they can visit our normal website so why invest in mobile?
Now time for a reality check….
Bringing a mobile presence into your business is very similar to circa 1996 when the forward thinking companies at the time realised that they would need a website to remain relevant to their customers and to stay one step ahead of their competition.
The explosion of mobile internet usage has taken many companies by surprise especially in the double glazing industry where many are still getting to grips with how using a standard website as a marketing channel can help grow their businesses.
If you want to reach people on mobile, you’ve got to start with the basics—a mobile site. – Google
Mobile usage is on the increase as it has been each quarter for the best part of over 2 years. According to OFCOM 39% of UK adults are now using their phones and tablets to access the internet with over 24m smart phone users in the UK (Source eMarketer) and these figures continue to increase month on month.
Still need convincing? If you have Google Analytics set up on your website log in and view the statistics showing how many of your visitors are accessing your website from a mobile device.
Not having a mobile-friendly site helps your competitors
Businesses need to adopt mobile into their web strategy or risk being left behind by your competitors who have embraced mobile.
Mobile-friendly sites turn users into customers
Your mobile friendly website should aim to reduce the clutter, and just focus on the most popular content areas from your desktop website along with key calls to action such as getting a quote. Using this approach your customers are far more likely to generate you a lead from viewing on a mobile optimised version of your website.
Non-mobile friendly sites can hurt a company’s reputation
By viewing a non mobile optimised website on a mobile device the chances are the user will have to pinch, zoom and scroll to view your site properly which is not the best user experience for your potential customers. Most will abandon your site and look for a competitor with a more mobile-friendly website.
Research from Google also shows that on mobile friendly websites 1 in 5 website visits leads to an immediate call to the business.
In terms on which mobile route to go down you have three choices
1. Responsive Website
2. Dedicated Mobile Website
3. Native mobile app
A responsive website is designed to adapt to suit different screens and devices. The benefits of using a responsive website is that you only build and maintain one website and it resizes itself accordingly. However by using a responsive site you may overwhelm users by showing too much content on mobile devices rather than just showing the key content areas.
A mobile website is similar to a regular website but designed for small screen devices. Mobile websites provide a better option at customising the content shown to mobile users and are usually quicker to load than responsive websites.
Native mobile apps are usually downloaded from a marketplace such as the App Store or Google Play. A mobile app offers the advantage of being available offline where the user has no internet connection and you can access the full range of functions offered by each phone manufacturer. However they are very expensive to develop, and you also run the risk without a significant marketing spend/time allocation of customers not finding the app when the app is in the marketplace because it is so saturated.
These three different technologies will help you establish a mobile presence for your double glazing business and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. What you shouldn’t do is keep putting your mobile plans on a back burner in 2014 or you’ll continue to lose ground to your more forward thinking rivals.
