Chances are you are reading this on your phone or tablet and just like you, your customers are searching, reviewing, and making decisions about the products and services you offer on their mobile devices as well. While this has been the case for some time now, there are still millions of websites online that are not designed for this mobile experience, meaning, they are hard to use, unusable and flat out look terrible when viewed on a phone.
That means you can add “responsiveness” to the list of things you need to worry about when it comes to your website and digital experience. Responsiveness is a term that means the website is built to “respond” to the size of screen it is being displayed on. When your website is designed to be mobile responsive, it will present a view that makes it easy to use on any size screen, thus, leading to a much better customer experience. Here are a few reasons you need to make sure your website is optimized for mobile:
Your Website Is The Face of Your Business
Your website is your business identity. It is the basis of how you are perceived by your customers and potential customers. Your website is the first place that potential customers go to learn about your business. 81% of customers visit a company’s website in the buying process.
If you think about your website like a brick and mortar store, you would spend a lot of energy making the space optimal for customers to enter, move around, see your products, try them out, and purchase them. Your website is no different, so when it makes any of those activities impossible, you run the risk of losing business.
First Impressions Last
The first impression of your business is usually the last impression. If your website looks dated, unprofessional, or looks like it was built with Geocities in the early 2000s, then it gives the first impression that you can't be trusted with a customer’s business. Just like any other aspect of life, it is important to have a good professional website in order to make a good first impression.
A Digital Age
We are constantly on our phones, and we are constantly doing research on the internet. We are looking for quick information and instant satisfaction. We like to scan and read short, easy-to-understand articles, menus, pricing, find hours of operation, and how to get in touch. We like to have easy to click links with large buttons. We like things that are fast and easy. This is why you must ensure your website is designed for mobile. If I have to pinch and zoom into your website to find out where you are located, I’m moving on.
Google Likes Responsive Websites
You want Google to like your website, it's how you’re going to get found in the vast sea of the internet, right? Google’s algorithm scans websites for relevant information to optimize their searches and the better constructed and usable a site is, the more Google will “like” your website and give it a better chance to show up over your competitors.
Your Competitors are Investing in their Website
Your competitors are making sure their sites are responsive to get ahead of you and attract your potential customers. Even if you are in an industry that doesn’t worry too much about online presence (I’m looking at you, plumbers), the reality is that customers are becoming less and less tolerant of terribly designed websites. Get ahead of the curve even if your industry doesn’t seem to care.
Conclusion
The most successful businesses of the world will be successful in the future because they change with the times and because they use the tools that can help them succeed. This is why responsive websites are important. This is why you should have a responsive website in order to be successful in the coming future. Grab your phone, pull up your website and see how easy it is to navigate to the parts of it you’d like your customers to see.
