By Nikki Buergel ~ General Manager & Head Of Paid Media
Fact: We are in the mobile era!
Most of us are using our mobiles more and more to interact on social media: whilst waiting in a queue or for an appointment, out comes the mobile — to do research, make purchases, email, converse with friends and clients, check in on the news and more. Mobiles have almost become an additional appendage for human beings and we are living in an age where people expect instant responses, with widespread anti-social behaviour the result of people’s almost obsessive fixation with their phones. Nonetheless, as digital marketers, we cannot ignore the importance of the mobile age and how that relates directly back to a business site.
According to stats, if your site doesn’t load in 3 seconds, you’ve lost your visitor! We are in the “instant age.”
So… What exactly is a mobile-friendly site?
In layman’s terms, a mobile site should display properly on smaller screens (Android and iPhone smartphones, as well as tablets) in 3 seconds or less. Older sites (and we are not even talking that many years ago) were originally built for desktop, with many of them unable to adjust properly to smaller screen sizes. Any truly good web-designer/developer should ensure that your site is built for all devices with optimal speed load times.
Key elements of a mobile site include:
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Fast download time
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Easy navigation
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Legible text
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All elements and buttons on the site should be touch-friendly
Why is it so critical for a site to be mobile-friendly?
Statistics prove that more and more users’ first point of research is from their mobile device. If you lose them at this crucial stage, you’ll be losing them to your competitors. Again, in layman’s terms, you want to give your visitors the very best possible experience as a ‘first impression’ – much like inviting new friends over for a dinner party! You wouldn’t serve your guests baked beans on toast, so why offer this to your site visitors/prospective clients?
In addition to providing a seamless, satisfying site experience for your visitors, having a mobile-friendly site includes a host of other advantages in the digital space, such as:
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Improved search visibility
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Improved metrics with digital advertising e.g. keyword quality score, cost per clicks, bounce rate etc.
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A more positive user-experience automatically installs faith in your brand, which results in leads!
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Improves your brand identity/strength
If that doesn’t convince you, then check these facts out:
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21 April 2015: Google began giving preference to mobile-optimized sites which gave rise to the term, ‘Mobilegeddon.’
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As of July 2018, site speed will be a ranking factor.
So, can you really still not afford to have a mobile-friendly site?
In this day and age? No! We will not invest in a new client’s paid advertising unless their site is mobile- and desktop-friendly! We don’t believe in wasting your money if we don’t feel the site “fits the bill”. Our MO is honesty — and we’ll tell you if your site is not optimal, based on thorough research of your site and campaigns.
We know it’s hard to break up with your website because you poured your heart, soul, and savings into it — but if your car desperately needs new tyres to get you from A to B safely, wouldn’t you get new ones?
In this new digital age where all your site visitors expect and demand “instant gratification”, not having a mobile-optimised site is costing you money!