A website is a big aspect of any marketing plan. When setting up a new business, it’s vital to have one before you launch. You will, no doubt, already know the reasons why it’s important to have a website.
What you may not know is the importance of making it accessible. In 2016, most people that go online do so from a mobile device. We typically browse the Web using a smartphone like the Apple iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy. Some of us will even go online with a tablet device.
As you can imagine, mobile devices are convenient ways of using the Web. You might be wondering if there’s any point on tailoring your site towards a mobile audience. Did you know that Google says most people using its search engine do so from a mobile device?
Whenever the Big G says something, everyone listens. That’s because they are an authoritative figure in the search engine and SEO world. Still, there’s plenty of independent analysis to confirm what Google have already said.
Now that you know most people search from a mobile, it’s clear you should make your site mobile friendly. So, to answer the question posed in this blog title, yes you should care if your site works on mobiles!
Still not convinced? Perhaps you might be thinking few mobile visitors will visit your site anyway? Let me share with you some facts to help emphasise the importance of sites that work well on mobile devices.
Mobile commerce is big business
It takes just minutes to set up an online store on any website. Thanks to services like Shopify, you don’t need to be a web design expert. Nor do you need to have lots of technical know-how.
There is a direct correlation between mobile users and items bought via mobile devices. The mobile commerce industry is booming and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Regardless of how you plan to sell online with your startup’s website, it’s a fact you need to bear in mind.
According to Statista, the global m-commerce market was worth around $315 billion in 2015. Analysts are predicting that figure will rise to $429 billion by the end of 2016. And $669 billion by 2018!
If your website doesn’t work well on mobile devices, few people will buy anything online from you. So, if you’re planning to grow your business through online sales, pay attention. You MUST have a mobile-friendly website!
Google gives extra SEO authority to mobile-friendly sites
When you create a new website, it’s not as simple as being a case of “build it, and they will come.”
A lot of SEO work needs to get carried out to start driving targeted traffic to your site. At the time of writing, there are over a billion websites on the Internet. That means there is plenty of competition for your site. Even if you class it as being in a micro-niche category.
The Web is full of hints and tips on how you can boost your SEO efforts. Those online guides will tell you the on and off-site activities that offer the best returns. But, what you may not know is the ins and outs of Google’s search engine ranking algorithms.
One fact in particular that you may not know is that Google ranks mobile-friendly sites high. For years, the Big G has told us how mobile Internet is the future. Today, that future is here.
It doesn’t make sense to put all that effort into SEO and not build a site that works well on mobiles. The good news is that it’s easier than you think to create a mobile-friendly site. For instance, you can apply a “theme” to your site that offers a responsive design. That means the site will change the layout and font sizes according to the device you use.
You can usually tell if a site has a responsive design by just resizing your browsing window on a computer.
A mobile-friendly site is a must if you use Google AdWords
As you know, AdWords is an advertising platform owned and operated by Google. It’s a powerful system used by millions of advertisers each year. Google AdWords is also the perfect way to grow a new startup’s site as part of a targeted marketing campaign.
Each year, the search giant makes some significant changes to enhance the AdWords platform. And this year is no exception. There are several Google AdWords changes for 2016, but some, in particular, will be relevant to you.
One of them is responsive design ads. As you may already know, AdWords lets you target mobile and desktop users (or a combination of them). Let’s consider the scenario where one of your ads shows up on someone’s smartphone. They tap on it and get redirected to your website.
