The Importance of Being Mobile

After extensive testing, Google officially launched the mobile-friendly label in the mobile search results last month. Google has added a text label under the URL in the search results to let people know that a particular site is mobile-friendly and can be viewed without any problems on their devices.

Why is this important?

Viewing a website that is not optimized for mobile devices can be very problematic for mobile searchers. The graphics and fonts do not scale as they should, the navigation is clumsy and often does not work, and much of the information on the website is virtually inaccessible.

There are also compatibility issues, especially if a website utilizes Adobe Flash technology. If a website cannot be viewed properly on a mobile device, people will simply not bother with it and move on to one that does–possibly your competitor.

According to searchenginejournal.com, in 2014, 25% of online searches were done from a mobile device. That number is set to increase next year to almost one in every three searches. And since more than 60% of mobile searches result in phone calls to a local business, having a mobile-friendly website is more important than ever. In fact, 57% of users won’t recommend companies with poor mobile sites.

Here at Solutions by Design, we have seen a steady increase of mobile traffic to many of our clients’ sites. Our SEO clients average approximately 30% to 35% in mobile traffic, while a handful of those see 45% to 50% each month. However, those clients who don’t have mobile-friendly sites have below-average web traffic, and their numbers keep falling.

Mobile usage is rapidly on the rise and now is the time to address the friendliness of your website. It’s almost a certainty that your competition already has.