People are spending more time on their mobile devices and tablets these days, since they are more convenient to use, at home or elsewhere, than a PC or laptop. But although smartphones offer convenient access to a large number of sites and applications, many websites are still not mobile-friendly. Here are major reasons why you need to optimize your website for mobile devices.
It is the Age of Multi-screening
Businesses should take advantage of the user trend and media time of mobile devices to gain a marketing edge against their competitors. Redbox SEM notes that your website is one of your biggest assets to building your brand identity, but if it is not fully-optimized for mobile use, you will turn visitors away.
A well-optimized, well-designed website tells visitors that you are a credible and reliable source of information, products or services. Your website should be just as sleek and efficient when accessed from a mobile device as it is on a laptop. The majority of consumers are ‘multiscreening’ – accessing through various media – which means that websites should offer the same experience across devices, especially for retail sites.
Changes in Consumer Behavior and Preference
A report forecasts that by 2019, the number of mobile phone users will reach 4.77 billion, with the Android operating system to hold an 80 percent share of worldwide smartphone shipments. Though the competition between mobile and desktop is still very tight, experts say that mobile will dominate very soon. If businesses don’t adapt to these consumer trends, they will lose competitive advantage.
Users behave differently when using different types of mobile devices. People now prefer reading on vertical screens (mobile) than horizontal screens (desktop). Another important data to consider is that mobile media time is increasing, with monthly usage of apps and mobile websites accounting for 89% and an average of 29 hours.
Retail sites can take advantage of the immediacy and urgency that the mobile experience allows. Mobile browsing is not as distracting compared to desktop; even more so if the website is efficient, mobile-friendly and responsive.
Research also shows that mobile users tend to buy more, especially lower-amount transactions. Moreover, optimizing to mobile will enhance your website’s organic search ranking as Google now favors mobile-friendliness in its SERP rankings.
The bottom line is that in a few years, mobile marketing and advertising will dominate as mobile usage trends and preferences increase. As early as possible, businesses should adopt these changes to enhance brand differentiation and customer loyalty.
