While it’s been over two years since Google first announced that mobile searches outnumbered searches made on desktop, don’t think that the trend has slowed down. In fact, according to a recent report put out by BrightEdge, a global leader in enterprise content performance and SEO, 57% of online traffic now comes from smartphones and tablets. With this being the case, the widespread use of mobile devices continues to change the game for search engine marketing.
Every Business Should Have a Mobile-Friendly Website, and Some More Than Others
If your company’s website is not built to deliver a great mobile experience, then you’re bound to lose out on over half of your online customers. As the numbers continue to show, mobile search is where things are heading. This means that harnessing mobile traffic should be important for everyone. But for brick-and-mortar businesses like restaurants and retailers, mobile search is especially important.
A keyword search on mobile will show different results when searched on desktop 79% of the time. This is largely due to what Google has learned about mobile searchers and it trying to predict what they’re looking for. Mobile searches are typically made when people are out of the house, so location plays a huge factor.
This should make mobile SEO a top priority for location-based businesses. Making it easy for on-the-go searchers to find your website and location will greatly increase the chances of getting them in the store. Having a mobile responsive website and employing mobile SEO strategies is the best way to do this.
Figuring Out If Your Website Provides a Good Mobile Experience
Even if you have a mobile responsive website, you still have to ask yourself: Does my website provide a great mobile experience? We’ve gone into what makes good UX and how it affects SEO in a previous post, but here’s a slimmed down version of how to answer this question.
Ask yourself:
- Is my website easy to navigate?
- Are my pages loading quickly?
- Does my website use too much mobile data?
- Are images and text sizing and spacing properly?
- Am I providing my users with the information they’re looking for?
If you answered ‘yes’ to all of these, then you’re in good shape and maybe all you need to do is reassess your SEO strategy. But however good you think your website’s mobile experience is, you should always be looking for ways to improve it. A good way to do this is to have your site audited by a professional web development company that specializes in mobile design and user experience.
The bottom line is that making sure your website performs well on mobile is only going to get more important. So instead of waiting for your rankings and traffic to take a serious hit, start making improvements now before any damage is done.