Why Go Mobile?

DIY Sprocket Solutions

Let’s say you’ve taken my advice by now, you’ve got a successfully running website that is driving traffic to your business. Perfect! Now, let’s talk about taking that next step.  You might be saying to yourself: What’s the point in going mobile? People can still bring me up on their phones if they are searching for me on the internet… To that I would promptly pick you up and shake you. OK, maybe I wouldn’t go that far.  But the appearance of your website is pretty important. Both on AND off the computer. So when a customer visits your site on their phone, if it’s all scattered around, hard to maneuver, or full of information that’s probably not useful to them on the go, they are going to move on.  Their thumbs can only take so much browsing on those tiny screens.  It’s 2013, let’s catch up with the times.  There are hundreds of millions of mobile phone users in the U.S. alone. About 9 out of 10 have access to the internet on their phones. What are you doing to win them over?

It’s looking more and more like mobile users want fast, quick, reliable information.  This makes a lot of sense if you really think about it.  Yes, I go on and on about all that lovely content on your website.  Yes, I think it is fantastically important.  Yes, it should be fresh, accurate, and up to date.  However, with a mobile approach, less is more. 

Let’s imagine for a moment that you’re stuffed into a car with 4 other family members. You’ve headed into the city for the day to show them the sites.  Problem?  You’re starving and you have no clue where to go eat for lunch.  You are shoved in the back seat in between Aunt Marge and Uncle Phil.  Marge is trying to climb into the front seat over you to adjust the GPS.  She has a tape stuck on repeat of “Do you guys think there’s a Denny’s around? I really love Denny’s.”  Meanwhile, Uncle Phil is sweating like crazy and you’re both wearing short sleeves – this is not a pleasant combo.  Grandma is in the front seat turning up and down the radio. Dad, who is driving, looks about ready to internally combust and you’re pretty sure he hasn’t had a bite to eat this whole day so now you’re hoping he doesn’t pass out and take you all out with him. Aunt Marge is now yelling over the radio, “I think they have pancakes all day.  Who doesn’t like pancakes?” We’re stuck in heavy traffic here people.  Phil has now sweated through his own shirt and yours.  Where the heck are you going to eat so you can get out of this car?

I’m only being realistic when I tell you that having a great website is really important. I’m being equally realistic when I tell you that having a great mobile site is very important as well. When Uncle Phil is pouring buckets of sweat down my side –I don’t have time to read through pages of filler. I want to know what your business is, where it is, what are the hours, how to get there, and what number to reach you.

The bottom line is this, a large chunk of websites don’t work the way they were intended to work or appear the way they were intended to appear on mobile phones.  If you have a new customer who is literally a block away and finds your business online, you don’t want to lose that customer because your website wasn’t mobile friendly. Then, instead of making that customer want to come in and shop for shoes –it made her want to chuck her phone across four lanes of traffic.  Don’t leave that taste in your customer’s mouth.  Who knows when/if they’ll ever decide to try your site again after that.  You don’t want a poor experience with your mobile site to deter new customers or frustrate existing ones. The screen is much tinier, the mobile connection speed is much slower, the technologies don’t always translate the same way. 

Why go mobile? To give your customers a better experience.  To make your website more maneuverable and accessible to your “on-the-go” customers.  To save a headache. To make car trips with family all across America just a tiny bit more tolerable.  So really, world peace.  Go mobile for world peace folks.

Breanne BannonBreanne Bannon

Breanne is a Content Writer, Social Media Marketeer, and Sales Associate for Sprocket Websites.

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