While you may or may not have heard that Google will begin incorporating data on whether a site is mobile friendly or not into its ranking algorithm this April, there are several reasons that your business should make sure it has a mobile friendly presence and your search ranking is just one of them.
In a recent poll conducted by Edelman, it was indicated that online search engines are considered to be the most-trusted media source. Based on their data, 64% of internet users worldwide consider online search engines the most trusted source for information. Make sure that your business is in a position to capitalize on that trust by having a mobile friendly web site.
If you don’t think mobile searches are significant, think again. In a recent comScore report, it was reported that smartphones and tablets now account for 6o% of all online traffic. Additionally it has been shown in a separate study that a higher percentage of mobile searches result in purchases that with traditional searches (comScore). You want to makes sure that this high quality traffic is finding your business.
This just applies to restaurants and retail outlets, according to eMarketer it is a similar situation when it comes to business information. Where search engines remain the most popular source of information (31% of respondents, while only 20% turn to newspapers).
There are many fine mobile web site developers that can help you with your project but you should also consider how mobile applications fit into the picture and how they can benefit your business.
A mobile application developer can help you develop an application that fits your business needs but keep in mind how it will benefit your online search strategy as well. Mobile app listings are given high importance in Google’s ranking algorithm so having mobile applications can place you very favorably when it comes to mobile search. Additionally having a mobile application has been shown to affect your businesses’ search ranking beyond just your application’s search position.
Beyond mobile’s affect on your search position customers have come to expect mobile optimized web sites and mobile applications from businesses and you might be turning customers away if you are not providing these to your customers. Since June 2013 more than half of the time spent shopping online has been done via mobile device [Internet Retailer]. Savvy shoppers are familiar with good mobile user experiences and have come to expect them.
Image: Ulf Bodin (Flickr) http://bit.ly/1Na41gm
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is often be viewed as a difficult, tech driven discipline that is expensive and not something that all companies need. Small businesses often think they won’t benefit from spending money on online marketing or don’t know where to focus their budgets. To help you understand the potential of SEO and how it should be key to your marketing plan, take a look at these compelling stats:
1 – International Telecommunication Union (ITU) research reports that the number of internet users across the globe has now exceeded two billion. In 2010 more than 226 million new people became internet users. IDC predicts that 2.7 billion people worldwide will be online by 2015. That’s a lot of potential customers.
2 – The average adult that is online, in the UK in this study, spends 22 hours and 15 minutes on the internet each month (according to the UK Online Measurement Company). That’s an increase of 65% compared to just three years ago. The internet is becoming a more important part of each of our lives each year.
3 – People are spending a lot of time and money online, but does that necessarily mean that you need SEO? Yes. 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine (Forrester). You cannot afford to be missing out on that many potential visitors.
4 – Although you should optimize for all search engines, it makes sense to prioritize Google. Google dominates all search engines and this allows you to focus your efforts like a laser. Google received more than 92% of search engine traffic in 2010, according to Statcounter.com. The runner up, Bing, gained just 3.17% of search engine traffic.
5 – Optify showed in a recent study that the top ranking website has an average click-through rate of 37%, while 60% of the clicks go to the top three results. It is crucial to work your way to one of these spots using search engine optimization in order to build a high volume of site traffic.
Clearly SEO is crucial to businesses big or small in efforts to generate business and is often has the best ROI of any marketing medium available due to the focused nature of searches.