Analyze your website’s mobile presence

When is the last time you checked how your website looks on a mobile web browser? If your answer isn’t somewhere within the last two months, you aren’t paying enough attention to your website’s mobile friendliness.

Google announced all the way back in April 2015 that mobile friendliness would become a factor in a site’s ranking in the search results.  Mobile web traffic broke even with desktop traffic in 2014 and has been increasing every year since, and 71 percent of online minutes are spent on a mobile phone in the United States.

Are you sensing a pattern yet? Mobile friendliness matters, and it is only increasing in importance each year. If your website isn’t mobile friendly, you are likely lagging behind most of your competitors.

Imagine you run a construction supply company. Someone goes to your mobile site to place a rush order, only to find themselves zooming in and out, clicking different buttons, trying to find your phone number or contact form. Frustrated and stressed, they go back to the search results to find a site that is easier to use that will get them help faster.

See how easy it was to lose that sale? Magnify that by your actual web traffic volume—that’s a formidable number of lost leads and sales.

The good news is, most Vistage members’ websites are already mobile friendly. But it’s not so cut-and-dry that you can make your site mobile friendly and then forget about it. Just like your desktop site, this platform needs to be constantly monitored for errors and improvements.

Take out your phone and load your website. How does it look to you from a consumer’s perspective? How does it compare to your competitors’ mobile sites?

Here are some basic guidelines to make your mobile site a great experience for every visitor:

• Prioritize the most important content so users can easily get the information they need
• Minimize the amount of content on each page (you can always add “Read More” buttons for those who want more)
• Check the loading time to make sure the site is fast enough (47 percent of consumers expect a page to load in two seconds or faster)
• Make your contact information and contact form easy to access and fill out

While you’re at it, check on your main competitors’ mobile sites (and, keep in mind that your online competitors might differ from who you think competes for your customers). This will give an insight into what you need to do to have the best mobile site experience.

More on this topic: Your website’s silent sales killer [webinar]

Vistage members can take advantage of a complimentary analysis from Blue Corona. We cover not only desktop and mobile website experience, but also highlight tracking & analytics, content, search visibility, social, and online reviews. We will give you a summary-level digital competitive analysis with a few immediate action items so you can get a jump-start on improving your web presence. This is something we’re doing exclusively for Vistage members, since we know you will take advantage of the insights and actions.

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