The convenience of having a smartphone on-hand makes life that much easier. Maybe it’s for news? Social interaction? Shopping? Whatever the reasons, people are increasingly reaching for their phones in a trend that’s showing few signs of slowing down. And businesses – as well as Google – know it. The question is, does yours? The not-so-hidden potential of mobile search
Published on July 19, 2018
The convenience of having a smartphone on-hand makes life that much easier.
Maybe it’s for news?
Shopping?
Whatever the reasons, people are increasingly reaching for their phones in a trend that’s showing few signs of slowing down.
And businesses – as well as Google – know it.
The question is, does yours?
The not-so-hidden potential of mobile search traffic
Mobile search traffic is on the rise:
Approximately 57% of traffic nowadays comes from smartphones and tablets.
All while Google continues to index mobile sites first.
This is the main reason mobile devices are a significant player in the modern digital marketing world, and why many successful businesses have already invested significant amounts into mobile marketing.
That said, there are still many companies on the other side of the spectrum that don’t yet appreciate potential of mobile marketing.
There’s never been a better time than now to re-examine the possibilities!
In fact, this form of search marketing offers countless perks that can take your business to the next level.
It’s been shown that mobile users tend to:
- Spend more time on the page.
- Shop for items more frequently.
- Report higher rates of engagement.
Stuck? Try these 4 ways to optimise your site for mobile devices
So how does your business maximise the potential of its search traffic?
More so, how do you ensure your mobile site is inviting sales rather than inciting sighs of frustration?
The beautiful thing is that optimising your website and marketing efforts for mobile is easy!
Creating a professional mobile app – however nice – can be relatively expensive so it’s a last step in a fully-fledged mobile marketing strategy.
Instead, look to optimise your website first.
Here’s how!
1Keep pop-ups to a minimum
Google is on a mission to bring a seamless experience to web users.
And it has your website’s pop-ups in its sights!
Even in a desktop environment, things like pop-up ads can be irritating.
But on mobile they can seriously mess up an otherwise decent user experience.
The lesson here is to keep pop-ups to a minimum!
If you do need them?
Design them in a way that ensures they’re fast-loading and quickly closed with the click of a button.
2Satisfy the need for speed
Page loading speeds are an essential factor in your users’ experience.
They’re also a crucial element in your search rankings.
With mobile devices usually having slower loading capabilities, minimising page loading speeds is that much more important.
Some quick and easy ways to enhance page loading speed include:
- Trimming down the amount of on-page content, particularly images.
- Minimising the number of HTTP – and optimising database – requests.
- Compressing files and images in order to reduce server response times.
3Say farewell to Adobe Flash
The days when Adobe Flash dominated the internet are long gone.
In fact, websites with clean and lean designs have higher conversions rates.
So while fancy designs with Flash may still seem like a great option, they provide little value for you and your mobile search optimisations.
Google much prefers HTML5 these days, and for good reason: it delivers the same experience as Flash without the costly overheads.
Always keep this in mind when designing or updating your website!
4Simplify the selection of items on touch screens
Touchscreens aren’t just common to smartphones any more.
An increasingly large number of desktops and laptops use this technology, too!
Whether it’s a smartphone or a laptop, you need to ensure users can touch and select with ease.
To do so, avoid cramping content on your page. The user might have to zoom in to select what they want, otherwise. This could be an inconvenience that takes up more time, and lead to frustration.
Wrapping it all up
Mobile-friendly sites should be a priority if you want to increase visibility and take your brand’s reputation to the next level.
Reach out to your customers via devices that they never seem to put down, and uncover a world of endless business opportunities!
Want to learn more? Check out AppGeek’s How Businesses Use Mobile Marketing to Their Advantage (Infographic)