March 24, 2016
Let’s just pretend that the 2009 hit “Boom Boom Pow” by The Black Eyed Peas was really about desktop browsing. Truer words were never spoken by Fergie when it comes to your website. Desktop browsing is so 2000 and late.
Since I’m part of a digital marketing agency, I have to help break this news to you. I know, your site looks amazing when viewed on a spacious display—and that’s awesome! However, internet usage habits have changed considerably over the past 7 years. Don’t get me wrong. People are still viewing websites on desktops, but mobile users are no longer an afterthought in the world of web development and site optimization.
The rise of mobile users
According to statistics published by eMarketer, in 2008, the average U.S. adult spent just 0.3 hours per day online on a mobile device. In 2015, the average was 2.8 hours. I should note that between 2008 and 2015, desktop internet usage hasn’t precipitously declined with the advent of mobile internet usage. Desktop internet usage has hovered steadily around 2.2 to 2.6 hours per day. Still, as a percentage of total internet usage, mobile has now overtaken desktop internet usage.
But—you ask—what if mobile is just a bloated number because of all the time people spend Tindering?
That’s what I thought too.
According to Google, more search queries occur on mobile devices than on desktops in the U.S. nowadays. Some may be surprised to learn that 80% of Facebook’s 2015 Q4 advertising revenue was generated from mobile viewing. And for some of the web’s leading websites, mobile devices accounted for 56% of total traffic.
The likelihood and value (because why wouldn’t you want the mobile traffic!?) of your site being visited by a mobile user is much greater today than even just a few years ago.
“Okay,” you say, “I understand that mobile optimization is important—so what can I do about it?”
How to dive into mobile optimization
First, check out the Google Developers’ page about mobile friendly websites. Google even has a free tool to test if your site is mobile friendly.
Second, because I’m really Rio Rancho salesman at heart (Glengarry Glen Ross reference in case you need a Netflix recommendation,) I want to address the synergy between mobile advertising and having an optimized mobile experience to drive commerce.
Because our Paid Search team can build and test highly targeted campaigns for your website’s products and services, they have the ability to direct mobile traffic to particular pages, products, and services on your site. When a given mobile user views your site, Google’s remarketing code collects that user’s profile so that they can be targeted with your ads at a later time on a desktop computer.
This is ideal for companies whose products are unlikely to be purchased from their mobile site but are instead researched by mobile users who plan on making a purchase at a later time. Therefore, the value of merging paid search strategies with your site’s optimized mobile experience is quite high.
Third, if you’re in e-commerce and if it is possible to envision users purchasing from your mobile site, make sure your site is user-friendly when making purchases on a mobile device. Lots of people are buying items on sites from mobile devices like an iPhone or iPad. In 2015, mobile commerce accounted for nearly 30% of all e-commerce in the US. And as this trend continues, ensuring an optimized mobile user experience is likely to grow your business as well.
One last thing—my inner Rio Rancho salesman core returns. Make sure you have someone who is adept at implementing the necessary mobile site optimizations. If you’re looking for an agency to help out, learn more about how the Perfect Search team can do the job for you. Our SEO and Paid Search teams have the know-how to analyze mobile activity and stay in the loop about industry updates. We also have an in-house developer to help make more technical improvements to your site.
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Interested in learning more about the mobile world? Discover 6 strategies to optimize your site for mobile here. You can also learn more about micro-moments and how taking advantage of them can drive traffic to your website.
Do you have any tips for diving into mobile optimization? Has Fergie imparted any other words of wisdom for you? We want to know. Tweet us at @Perfect_Search.