8 reasons why you should care about having a mobile friendly website

 

A mobile friendly website will benefit you in many ways. You’ve heard it before. However, when you run a startup you and your developing team might be very focused on launching the product, engaging new customers and building up a brand, that you forget about it. Also, when you have a small business that has been running for years, your daily activities are so overwhelming that you don’t think about it.

This is why I wanted to share the 8 reasons why you should optimise your website for mobile.

1. More people access the internet on mobile

In 2016 mobile became the primary internet access device, overtaking the desktop. Google Webmasters say that 94% of people in the USA use their smartphones to search for local information. And the statistics are not much different in the rest of the world. In many developing countries people have a mobile phone before they have a computer.

This means, it’s very likely that your existing customers will go on your website from their smartphones. Also, if you want to attract more visitors, you better offer them a mobile friendly website.

2. People behave differently on mobile

The same people have different behaviours when accessing the internet from their phones than from desktop.

First of all, the reduced size of their screens make them feel more attracted to short videos and images as opposed to text. Think at Instagram, which has based its success on people accessing and sharing images on mobile.

This means that if you care about mobile optimization, you should design a website that prioritizes this type of content.

3. Your sales will increase

Research shows that people tend to spend more money on mobile. Especially on smaller and more frequent purchases. So, if you sell small goodies on your website, it’s really worthy for you to give your users a smooth experience.

Check your website’s speed because people get frustrated and are 5 times more likely to leave a page if it loads in more than 3 seconds. They would also abandon the purchase when the shopping cart is not optimized for mobile.

But even if you don’t sell anything on your website, by giving your users a better experience, they will know you better and be more likely to buy your product or service. For instance, if you are a beauty salon and want people to book their appointments online, make sure you make it easy for them.

mobile friendly website

4. Your SEO ranking will improve

Google has started rewarding mobile optimized websites already a couple of years ago. Its algorithm is able to check mobile responsiveness and penalize the websites that perform poorly.

There is also a very simple reason why a mobile friendly website will help you in your ranking: if you give all those people accessing on mobile a smooth and pleasant experience, they might spend more time on your website. This means that your bouncing rate will decrease. Google will see it as if people were more engaged on your site and, therefore, reward you.

5. People often switch devices

Nowadays, 90% of the customer journeys happen on multiple screens. People might find out about something on their phones, maybe when they are bored on their way to work. They would then go back to complete the purchase or action on another device later. So, it is very likely that your customers will access your website from their phones at a certain point.

Make sure you give them the best possible experience regardless from where they navigate your content.

mobile friendly website

6. Mobile landing pages work differently

A landing page is the first content people access when visiting your website. It’s your one shot to providing a good experience that will make people convert and return to you.

As we said, people behave differently when on mobile and this applies also to your landing page. First of all, phone screens are smaller and require a different design, where users don’t need to zoom or pinch the page. They want to be able to read the entire content smoothly.

Remember to design all the call to action buttons and links with the right size and margins to avoid errors. Also, make sure that your phone numbers are text and not image to allow people making calls directly.

7. Social media traffic happens mostly on mobile

Nowadays, people use their social media mostly on their phones. Certain very popular networks such as Instagram and Snapchat are almost for mobile use only.

So, if you are active on social media, your content will very likely refer to your website. This means that most of your site visitors coming from social media are on their phones.

If your website is not responsive for mobile, you are wasting your money and time on social media. But if you make the effort, you will take full advantage of this incredible tool.

8. A good and optimised mobile website will differentiate your brand

If you didn’t focus all your efforts on creating a mobile website don’t worry, you are not alone. According to a recent survey by Yodle, 52% of small businesses websites are mobile-friendly. In addition, only half of them are actually efficient and good.

This means that statistically some of your competitors might not have thought about it yet. If this is the case, you might have found a new incredible competitive advantage. You can be the one giving a better experience.

I think this is especially true for startups. You are creating a new product that you are introducing to the market, so you have to show the value and create your customer base. With a poor mobile website, you might miss some great opportunities. The effort it took you until now is probably very big, so why wasting it in such small details?

mobile friendly website

So, what can you do now to get a mobile friendly website?

Now that you know why you should care about a mobile responsive website, what can you do?

First of all, run a test to see how your website is performing. Google offers the Mobile Friendly test for free here. They would also give you some tips on how to improve.

After that, if the performance is poor, go and talk to your developer. Do whatever it takes and optimise your website. It’s worth the investment and the effort!

Content is king: how to write an about us page that people will remember

how to write an about us page

 

If you want to improve your online presence, one of the easiest things you can look at is your content. Is it interesting? Does it appeal to your target? Would you spend time on it if you were a visitor of your website?

In this series of three articles, you will find my best tips on how to improve your content for a better online presence.

 

write an about us page

I don’t’ know about you, but the first thing I do when visiting a new website is checking the About Us page. It has all the information on the brand and it is the first impression visitors get about a company. This is why the first post of the series is on how to write an about us page.

Starting from it will make you rethink at the message you want your brand to vehicle. It will also help you reconsidering the way you communicate to your audience. Once you’re done with that, you can go to the rest of your website.

 

Remember that the about us page doesn’t need to be very long nor too detailed. The following are just a few tips for inspiration, you don’t need to use all of them!

Think at what makes you special

Sometimes when running a small business or a startup we forget our purpose. Our to do list is so long and we focus on the day to day activities, neglecting the basics.

If you have to write or rewrite your about us page, start with thinking at what makes your business unique and why should customers buy your product and not your competition’s. What is the problem you are solving? What is your vision?

Spend some time on it and when you figured it out write it down.

An absolute no go when it comes to expressing your ideas is a boring list. Who wants to read that? You have to be creative to engage your customers. A good way to do this is by telling a story:

Tell a story

If possible, tell a story. Narratives are very effective when it comes to marketing because our brains remember them much better. We relate much more to stories than some abstract ideas. This is why even our ancestors would tell stories to keep record of important historical facts before they could write and read.

Keep the focus on your customers making the content relevant to them and the problem you are solving. Be entertaining and maybe a little unusual with a different angle. However, you should always be authentic. Don’t make up something crazy to seem more interesting. It will come back to you and you will lose credibility as well as people’s trust.

Always include visuals

What do you think at when you see a full text website without visuals? It’s so 90’s, right? You don’t want to be like that!

So, add visuals to make your design more appealing. Ideally you should have your own pictures, and videos. If you don’t have the material nor the budget for professional services, there are some great tools that will help you. Don’t use a random image that you find on Google, as it might be subject to copyright and affect your SEO score.

You can buy images or icons from various online stocks for very reasonable prices. I like canva for images: you can choose from over 1,000,000 and create your own designs. They are also valuable for social media posts. Some pictures are free and for others you need to pay 1$.

iconsolid is great for icons: they have over 1,075 vector icons in several file formats and sizes. You have to buy your licence, starting from 39$ to have access to their entire stock.

I think it is a good compromise when you are on a tight budget. You will use professional services when the time will be right.

Add a timeline

Facebook made a timeline a very popular tool for people to present themselves. So, why not taking that idea from them and using it in the About Us page?

Visitors will see your company’s history, from where you started to your greatest achievements and future goals. If you have been in business for a couple of years, include some relevant milestones. If, on the other hand, you just started, you can put your next steps. This is especially useful if you run a startup, as you will need this timeline in your pitch desk.

Again, don’t write just a list, try to be engaging and creative with visuals. A timeline is actually a great tool to show facts and detail in various formats, not just in text. Your customers will appreciate the simplicity of the information you display. Maybe you can add some fun images of your company history to make it even more compelling.

If you are not sure about how to create a timeline infographic, follow these steps.

Don’t forget your team

Adding your team will make your business more accessible and human. Your clients will be able to give a face to a name!

So, add each team member with their pictures and a brief biography, but highlight the real person outside the office. We all like to think behind the products and services we consume there are human beings, like us. Tell what are their values, what they like and what makes them special.

It doesn’t need to be formal, actually it’s better if you use a simple and relaxed language. People need to be able to relate to it. If applicable, add their contacts. We want to get to the right person when we need them.

 

Once you’re happy with your about us page, you can move to the rest of the website to match your new communication style.

Still not sure on how to write an about us page? Check the Best About Us Pages for some inspiration or contact me.