There’s a lot of talk about mobile marketing these days. In fact, if you follow Facebook news then you know that their main focus right now is trying to monetize that mobile market so they can please their investors. It would almost appear that if you don’t have a mobile website you might as well move into a cave and learn to read smoke signals. However, don’t start packing yet. Not everyone needs to optimize their sites for mobile phones.
Before you start paying some designer to optimize your site, let’s take a look at the reasons you might need it. The whole purpose of designing a mobile site is so that your site will appear well in the smaller screen of mobile phones and so searchers can easily access your important links. But let’s look a little closer at what people are looking for when they use mobile search.
The word “mobile” is a dead giveaway. People conducting searches on their mobile phones are generally moving around – walking, driving, riding the bus or train. When you’re mobile you need to be watching your surroundings. You don’t have time to do a lot of typing and reading so whatever you’re viewing needs to be easy to see in one glance and links have to be prominently displayed.
Of course, it never hurts to plan ahead. You won’t be wasting your time if you optimize your site for mobile. But keep in mind, it’s not going to add anything to your business unless you have the type of site that attracts mobile search traffic.
People conducting searches while they’re mobile typically aren’t looking for a novel they can read online. More often than not they’re looking for local business information – the nearest Italian restaurant, the movie times at the local theater, a tow truck or a taxi. Can you picture someone walking down the street suddenly having a reason to look up your website? If so, they you need to optimize your site for mobile phones.
People also use their mobile devices to share content with friends, and it’s typically entertainment-type content. Videos, of course, are the most popular, but they also share images, infographics, music and even blogs and websites, but remember – in most cases involving blogs and websites the recipient is still going to have to wait until he’s no longer mobile before he can view the content.
Why do you need to optimize your site for mobile phones?
Maybe your site does get a lot of local search traffic and now you’re wondering why you need to go to the expense of a redesign. Maybe you don’t right this minute, but if you’re already getting a lot of mobile traffic you can probably get even more if your site looked better when viewed from a mobile phone.
You’ll also get better conversions with a mobile design. Remember, people need to be able to quickly see you entire message and your navigation links – without having to scroll. In most cases, the only way you’ll get that is if you optimize your site for mobile phones.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!