The Importance of Having a Mobile Website

Most of us have known for a long time that people everywhere are increasingly accessing the internet on a range of devices. No longer is it safe to assume that a visitor to your company website will be using a traditional desktop or laptop computer – there is a good chance that she will be using a tablet or a handheld Smartphone.

Traditional websites, even those developed a few years ago, were not commonly formatted for mobile-display, and do not render well on today’s modern devices. While some industries have been quick to respond by transitioning their company websites to mobile-friendly formats, many decision-makers are still not aware that this is an important issue which can affect the bottom-line of their businesses. Here are some of the reasons why having a mobile website is important.

SEO. Google recently announced that they will prioritize companies that have mobile-friendly websites when people use the search engine on their smartphones or tablet computers. This change came into effect as of Wednesday 22nd April 2015, and has already seen the rankings of numerous businesses with desktop only websites be negatively affected (66% of Australian websites are not mobile-friendly). If you want your site to rank highly in Google, it is now imperative that it is optimized for mobile. Having a mobile-friendly website is not the only factor to consider when aiming for engine ranking success, however it will play a vital role in the battle for the highly coveted number 1 place on Google.

Traffic. As of 2014, mobile usage overtook desktop usage for the first time in the history of the internet. With more people than ever using their mobile devices to access the internet, you run the risk of losing over 50% of your visitors if your website is not optimized for mobile. If your site is not mobile friendly, you’re probably already losing traffic. This is easily rectifiable though, by simply contacting and hiring a reputable web developer to assist you with making the move to mobile.

Engagement. Optimizing your website for mobile has been proven to boost engagement by almost twice the average traffic per user. 90% of people report moving between devices when completing a task, and offering an engaging mobile experience increases the likelihood of customers re-visiting your website on a desktop. If your mobile site is easy to read and navigate, your bounce rate should reduce, and your customer is much more likely to spend time (and hopefully money) on your site, products, or services.

Sales. Although desktop sites still account for the majority of online sales, mobile is catching up. The habits of those who shop using desktop and those who shop using mobile differ, desktop buyers tend to make more informed and carefully researched buying decisions, whilst mobile buyers are generally more impulsive.

SEO, traffic, engagement, and sales – 4 great reasons as to why your website should be optimized for mobile as soon as possible. Google offers a range of resources for webmasters to test their mobile sites and tools to make their pages mobile-friendly, and a Google Partner like CBO can assist you with making the transition to mobile. In the near future, the majority of the population will be browsing the internet using mobile devices, meaning that any business with an online presence needs to ensure that their website is properly optimized for mobile.