Mobile-Friendliness Archives

“I just don’t have the time,” or “now isn’t a good time for me.” These are just some of the responses that we are guilty of coming up with when we are thinking about making changes.

A re-brand? No time. New content? Not just now, thanks. Website? We’ve got one, and we’ve got more than enough on our plates.

These things must be reconsidered, as we know that companies have been and will be left behind if they don’t continue to adapt and evolve what is ultimately the shop front to their company. It is important to always strive to keep your website fresh and updated; so why not now?

Right now is the perfect time to invest in long-term strategy and you certainly don’t want to be thinking of doing it when you are once again too busy to act. Just as important is to remember that you are not the only one at home and as the majority of people are also at home, we all need something to direct our gaze at.

From one side, we don’t have shop fronts, store displays, or events to showcase what we do. From the other, we have nobody to talk to at the coffee machine, and we can’t gossip by the copier; plus now more than ever, we need to be entertained.

If you already have a website, you have already been collecting data for some time now. With today’s Google Analytics providing visibility as we’ve never had, now is the time to cash in.

It is easier than ever to identify which areas of your site work the best, which pages rank the highest, and use data to find out about visitors. There is no point in framing this data and putting it on the wall (with everyone working from home no one will see it anyway), you should be using it to see where your visitors are coming from and going to, what they are liking and what they are ignoring; and then building something which makes it easier for them to do so. 79% of customers who voiced dissatisfaction with websites say that they would be unlikely to buy from them again.

A website is not only a great way to get clients, but it can also be a fabulous way of losing them. Half of web users expect webpages to load in less than two seconds; a one-second delay here translates to an 11% drop in page views, and, tellingly, a 7% drop in conversions. A one-second increase has made some companies thousands of dollars more every day, literally.

Speed and user-friendliness are among many factors, of course, and you should take the time to really have a look at such factors as:

Mobile-friendliness

This is a non-negotiable must and it is essential that you have a mobile-friendly website

Design

This isn’t myspacing anymore; design should be unique and proudly display your brand; make it inviting, clear, succinct, and be true to your brand. It must look good; if you were buying a car, you’d expect four wheels and some mod-cons, but you’d also choose one that looked nice.

Ranking

Many of the webs best looking and most functional sites slip under the radar far too often. Great design, content, and architecture mean nothing if you are not showing up in search results. Several factors will affect this, of course, but usability will be high on the list.

Conversion rate

Ok great, your site is ranking spectacularly and generating more leads than a pet shop, but again, useless if they are not converted.

Branding

Maybe the number one factor to look at right now. It is high time to sit back and get some perspective on your brand, your industry, and your company. Have things been slowly changing over the last few years? Is your product still the same? More than ever before, a consistent, multi-platform brand is key to gaining awareness and loyalty. Your brand must be more than a fantastic and recognisable logo; it must be your voice and your precept.

Content

Fill up your website with fantastic content (content will generate SEO for years to come, for free) and make it look fantastic and will keep people on it as long as possible. Right now is a great time to invest in content. Once you have it, it’s yours, use it and squeeze it as long as you can.

One thing that this situation will surely boost is e-commerce. The fear of expanding into online sales must be overwhelmed by the fear of having no sales at all. Once we are through the isolation period, yes, people will rejoice and head outside, but e-commerce will have been introduced to millions of people that didn’t use it already. Give your customers the same feeling as they get when they come to see you, make them feel welcome and free from this confinement by offering a fantastic online experience from which they can still enjoy your product.

Home deliveries seem to be the best bet right now, so be the site that offers the most comfortable path to it. And don’t think that it will be short term, most clients, if they have enjoyed the experience, will continue to shop online.

A website, across all platforms, is your storefront right now. It is your kiosk at the industry convention and content is your voice. Take the time to marry as many strong elements of your company and brand as you can, and make sure that everyone can see what you do and what you deliver, presented in an easily digestible and engaging website.

By Jenny Stanley

Jenny Stanley is founder and managing of Appetite Creative Solutions

Sourced from The Drum

By Valery Kurilov

2020 was a very challenging year for everyone, with Covid-19 causing the global economy to plummet. As a result, brick-and-mortar companies and businesses with a limited online presence had to seriously consider their digital marketing strategy.

However, many businesses jumped on the bandwagon without carefully planning out their strategy. So, they ended up blowing their budget on driving traffic through ads without first building a solid foundation—an optimized website.

Now is the time, more than ever, to master your digital marketing strategy to get your business in front of more eyes. But strap yourself in for a journey rather than a two-stop trip—digital marketing is not a one-off effort, but rather an ongoing objective that needs daily monitoring.

So, what steps should you take to get your digital marketing campaign off the ground?

1. Highly Optimized, Mobile-Friendly, Scalable Online Environment

I could’ve simply said that you need a website, but what you need is an online environment that is secure, has a clear structure and works fast.

Here are three vitally important things any modern website needs:

• Speed: Create a clear site structure so that people can quickly find what they need. And with Google confirming that Core Web Vitals will be ranking signals in May 2021, you must pay extra attention to how users experience the speed, responsiveness and visual stability of your site’s pages.

• Mobile-Friendliness: Desktop searches fell behind mobile back in 2017, with over 55% of global web traffic now falling on mobile devices. Moreover, mobile is no longer a growing trend, but the norm, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, don’t even think about going online.

• Security: Web security is critical in preventing hackers and cyber-thieves from getting access to sensitive data, including that of your users. Without a proactive security strategy and an HTTPS connection, businesses risk the development of malware attacks and attacks on other sites, networks and so on.

Search engine optimization (SEO) isn’t easy, but it’s essential when it comes to digital marketing. Don’t think that a set-it-and-forget-it approach will work here. You need to be consistent so that potential customers can always find your website for relevant searches.

2. Get On Google My Business

Another way to help customers find you is through Google My Business (GMB).

Google My Business puts your details where potential customers can find them more easily. It also puts your business on Google Maps where it can be reviewed. This can also ensure your business is ranking on the map alongside other similar businesses, giving you a massive boost in visibility, thanks to the Google Local Pack. Optimizing a GMB account is trickier than it looks to begin with. But there are plenty of sources online that provide extensive guides on this topic.

3. Social Media Profiles And Activity

Besides being on Google, you need to actively engage your audience on social media. Think of the difference between eating at a chain restaurant or at a small local one. You never see chefs at restaurant chains, but at your local diner, if a chef talks to you, you find out more about the place and the ingredients used, and unless the food’s awful, you’re likely to spread the word and go back. As a small business, this is the approach you need to take on social networks: Actually talk to and engage with your customers.

Learn what social media platform is popular among your potential customers and get on it too. The most obvious option, Facebook, even has tools for promoting business pages to segmented audiences. If your clients use Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram, expand your presence there too. This is something business owners may need help with, as the most effective way to grow an audience on social media is to consistently create and publish interesting, engaging content.

And if your audience has migrated to newer platforms like TikTok or Clubhouse, try them out. The point is, follow your audience to attract the right traffic.

4. Figure Out What’s Right For Your Business: SEO Or PPC

Before making a decision, assess your financial capabilities and understand if you need to go for search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising or both at the same time.

SEO and PPC are both digital marketing strategies that ultimately get your site to appear on Google page one. But to yield positive results, both strategies need a lot of expertise, tech knowledge and a marketing budget.

PPC is perfect for quick sales if you have a new website that isn’t performing well in organic search, if you think you have a great product/service and want to test it out or if you have reasonable profit margins.

On the flip side, SEO is what you need if you’re looking for long-term growth and can afford to invest in it, if you want to build up your brand over time or if you want to optimize your marketing costs.

Unlike with paid advertising, once you start ranking at the top of Google searches using SEO, you’ll start driving high-quality traffic to your business at no cost. In PPC, you won’t get any clicks if you don’t regularly fork over a small fortune.

Alternatively, you can choose to do SEO and PPC at the same time. This totally depends on your opportunities.

Everything covered here is fundamental to boosting your business’s online visibility. For businesses new to digital marketing, these steps may feel huge to begin with, but once you get the hang of it, it will seem as natural as wearing a seatbelt in a car. With the right set of tools—a well-optimized website, a Google My Business account, an active social media presence and constantly-published engaging content—you can drive web traffic, generate new sales and even get customers to fall in love with your brand.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Valery Kurilov

Co-Founder & CEO at SE Ranking, Serial Investor, IT Entrepreneur with 10+ years of experience in marketing and software development. Read Valery Kurilov’s full executive profile here.