The year 2016 witnessed mobile overtaking desktop as the chief device used to access websites. This did not come across as a huge surprise because as far back as 2015, Google reports revealed that an increasing number of searches were conducted on mobile than on any other device category.
Let us just say, that the ultimate use of mobile has well and truly dawned upon majority of the users, owing to its handy convenience. Nevertheless, some websites are desktop oriented and tend to fall down on usability on mobile phones. This is because these sites are built for desktop and then dialled back for mobile which makes the mobile site responsive but not quite optimised.
This certainly does not qualify when mobile-first is all the rage in 2017.
Today, we are well beyond the point where emphasis is more on making websites “mobile-friendly” or mobile-ready”. This shows how more focus is allotted to desktop design and appearance while mobile design and optimisation are mere afterthoughts and add-ons.
Today’s technological advancement condemns mobile design and optimisation as being an add-on or secondary or, something you should do “too” in order to complement your desktop presence. Desktop cannot be carried in your pocket every single day.
It is mobile phones which have overtaken desktops in every single aspect, in fact more than matching up and out performing desktops. So, why should mobile optimisation lag behind anymore? Why shouldn’t mobile optimisation be given equal emphasis and made primary rather than secondary?
All the marketing efforts and web development today must be structured keeping mobile optimisation at the prime focal point.
Google’s Expectations
The following key stats will shed some light on the vitality of mobile optimisation:
- An increasing number of people (growing by the day) conduct searches on their mobile phones rather than on computers.
- People are five times more likely to abandon a site if it is not mobile-friendly.
- If it takes longer than three seconds to load, more than half of the mobile users are likely to leave a website.
As more and more people are resorting to mobile devices to conduct a search rather than a desktop/computer, mobiles devices contribute towards generating more page views. If your website is not mobile-friendly, the chances of them sticking around, are extremely slim. If your site is slow, users may not even wait for the page to load. Add to the mix the fickleness of mobile data networks and there goes your customer count and page views down the drain.
Your website has to be a mean, lean mobile-friendly machine to make your customers stay. As the saying goes, ‘You catch more bees with honey.’
Give your customers the whole package, earn their loyalty in return and see your rankings rise.
Mobile Design over Desktop Design
What businesses today need to realise is mobile is not the future, it is the present. Now this does not necessarily mean that you do not need a stellar desktop site. You most definitely do! But, as mobile has become more organic for searchers and information gatherers, it is essential to have a mobile site that caters to the needs of the visitors.
Unfortunately, customers still have to resort to the desktop version of the websites because of the limitations of the mobile version.
This needs to change.
Your mobile has to be so strong and optimised that it matches everything that a desktop website can do. There has to be a flawless ease of doing the same thing conveniently on mobile phones as well.
Mobile Social Sharing
Studies show that web users are nearly twice as likely to share content using their mobile phones as they are from their desktops.
You are substantially missing out on about two-thirds of your online branding prospect if your social sharing buttons work on desktop display but not on mobile. That accounts for a lot of people who will not be seeing your content simply because it cannot be shared from a mobile device.
Thus, optimising your website to function on mobile devices is likely to double the views owing to mobile social sharing.
Voice Command – An Important Aspect
In the ever-evolving world of search marketing, the ability to appear in search results activated through voice is becoming an important part of a comprehensive search strategy. These voice based search queries, apply a combination of technologies to provide the best-suited result:
- Natural Language Processing (NLP)
- Text to Speech (TTS)
- Pre-programmed Language Search Tools
This includes Google’s voice command app “OK Google” or Apple’s “Siri” or Amazon’s “Alexa” or Window’s “Cortana”. If you find your customers prefacing questions with any of these, you are witnessing their participation in the growing use of voice search. Using voice command is more easy and fun with a mobile device.
Competitive Advantage of Mobile Optimisation
Creating a mobile user interface that solely aims to make the experience of mobile users utterly wonderful has to be the motto of every business owner. Businesses need to focus on the key areas in order to create a website that is exceptionally fast and rewarding to use on a mobile device.
From improved visibility in organic search to a boost in conversion rates from other inbound channels – focusing on mobile users will allow you to develop a strategic competitive edge over the competitors.
Competitive advantage can prove to be your Unique Selling Point (USP) and represents a clear opportunity to be exploited. This 2017 heed your mobile users and cash on the various advantages of mobile optimisation and make it the titan of your SEO campaign.
I couldn’t agree more that mobile optimization is the king nowadays. People are spending less and less time on laptops and desktops and more time on tablets and phones (and phablets). This means websites have to actually care about how they look via phones and tablets more and more otherwise people just click away and don’t look at the site or interact with it. It can never be said too many times. Mobile optimization is king.