Marketers generally consider a company’s website to be the core of its digital marketing campaign. Its site ranking will determine how much organic traffic it gets, it’s responsible for converting leads, and it promotes the company’s products and social media pages.
All of this is still true with just one little difference: your mobile site is now more important than your desktop one. This change will impact the rest of your digital marketing efforts.
Unsatisfied mobile users don’t come back
Although users now spend more time on mobile devices than desktop computers, many businesses still spend more time designing their desktop site. This contradiction is the source of inefficient marketing efforts and lost investments.
It has also tested the patience of mobile users who are tired of trying to navigate non-mobile-friendly sites on their phones. According to this MarTech Advisor article, 61% of them will never return and 40% of them will go straight to a competitor’s site:
“The brands that succeed are the ones that build an online experience tailored to the consumer, meeting their needs every step of the way. Sixty-one percent of customers report that they would not return to a brand’s mobile site after a negative experience, and 40 percent say they would go to a competitor’s site, according to Google.”
Those are the stakes we’re playing at. A bad mobile UX is enough to keep leads away forever.
Users don’t like mobile ads, but they’re effective
While we’re talking about mobile sites, we’ll throw in a quick word about mobile ads. This article explains that while users find them intrusive, they also are able to recall them at incredible rates:
“In a survey of 3,600 mobile users from 18 different countries, 61% of respondents said they now see more ads compared to a year ago, while 54% think mobile advertising has become more intrusive in that time. Apparently, 90% of respondents recall seeing a mobile ad within the first few days of originally viewing it on their mobile browser.”
As always, you should keep your site free of ads. But buying mobile pay-per-click ads is a good way to supplement your site’s organic traffic. Just make sure the design isn’t obnoxious.
Make your site responsive
Okay, we’ve established that the mobile UX is critical, but we haven’t explained what you can do in that respect yet. The easiest, fastest, and the most effective tactic is to make your site responsive.
Responsive sites adapt to whatever screen size they need to. This is one way to ensure you’ll never exclude any users from your site. Your UX will hold up just fine on smartphones, laptops, and desktops.
By the way, if you’re wondering what Google has to say about this whole responsive design business, check out its Developers Page:
“Serves the same HTML code on the same URL regardless of the users’ device (desktop, tablet, mobile, non-visual browser), but can render the display differently (i.e., “respond”) based on the screen size. Responsive design is Google’s recommended design pattern.”
Don’t overthink it. Responsive design is good for your UX, UI, and SEO.
Create content for mobile users
You might have heard the term “mobile-first” thrown around in digital marketing circles. This is an acknowledgment that mobile-friendly strategies might not be enough in 2017. Instead, you should design specifically for mobile users.
Before you redesign your entire site, we recommend creating a few pieces of content for mobile devices. Make sure the text is readable and the buttons are big enough. If you can make it interactive, then that’s even better.
Making your site mobile-friendly (bonus points if it’s mobile-first) isn’t optional anymore. To talk more about digital marketing, or anything else, contact us today.
