This document discusses why businesses need a mobile-friendly website. It notes that consumers are increasingly using mobile devices to search for information and make purchases. Many mobile users search for local businesses and services on their phones. Having an optimized mobile site allows businesses to reach these customers. The document recommends using services like Google My Business to create a free digital business profile that includes contact and location information.
2. Why Your Business Needs a Mobile Website
Preface 3
A Brand New Breed of Consumer 4
Mobile-Aided Shopping 6
Mobile Users Going Local 8
How to Boost Your Business’s Reach 9
Non-Mobile Friendly 11
2
3. 3
Preface
Over the recent years we have been witnessing a dynamic expansion of new technologies. Due to the
convenience that mobile devices have ensured we began to adapt them to completing our daily routines. The
model of a typical consumer has evolved, too. Consumers have changed their purchase behaviors and started
to use smartphone as the primary medium in this process.
In our e-book we aim to highlight and explain the need for small and medium businesses to get ready for
a customer of a new type functioning in a different context than ever before – a mobile consumer. Business
owners keep underestimating the potential of mobile devices and it seems that the lack of knowledge about
their users might be the fundamental problem.
We hope that our e-book will help better understand expectations of mobile consumers, which will let
entrepreneurs achieve their business objectives within the most dynamically developing sales channel.
4. A Brand New Breed of Consumer
4
Have you noticed how consumers and their
purchase behaviors have changed over the last few
years?
Today consumers have an unlimited access to
information on products and services. Using free tools
available on the Internet they can compare prices and
purchase conditions, verify suppliers, or even create
summaries of similar products. All this to get better
prepared for making a purchase decision. The idea
dates back to 1980, when Alvin Toffler, a futurologist,
coined the term prosumer, contracting two words –
producer and consumer, to describe the emerging type
of proactive consumers. Prosumer, or a typical today’s
consumer, is an active customer comparable to a
professional. The new consumer no longer relies solely
on traditional advertising, but looks for information on
their own initiative.
5. A Brand New Breed of Consumer
When making a purchase decision, they have a broad knowledge of the product and its features, the
competition, as well as other consumers’ opinions. According to 71% of the respondents who participated in
a research carried out by B2B Marketing portal in 2012 – the main source of this information is the Internet.
Is your business’s website ready for the latest revolution among prosumers – a shift towards
mobile devices?
More and more people are resorting to smartphones and tablets for their daily activities. It is predicted that by
2015 more users will be accessing the Internet on mobile devices than on desktop computers. If your strategy
for gaining customers does not account for the behaviors of today’s consumers, you will be losing them month
after month.
5
6. 6
Mobile-Aided Shopping
Consumers increasingly use mobile devices to search for information on products and, as a result, to
make online purchases. This trend has been supported by a number of studies carried out by Google,
among others, which show the great potential of the technological revolution for small and medium
businesses.
We have been witnessing a vast expansion of the mobile network globally. Global mobile traffic increased by
81%1 over the previous year, exceeding 18 times1 the size of the entire global Internet in 2000! It is estimated
that by 2015 more users will be accessing the Internet on mobile devices than on desktop computers. According
to Cisco, by 2018 smartphones will have already accounted for 66%1 of global mobile traffic. As of now 77%2 of
mobile searches take place with the desktop computer being available at hand.
66%
of global
mobile
traffic will
come from
smartphones
by 2018
77%
of mobile
searches take
place near a
computer
24%
of consumers
tell others
about local
businesses
found via
smartphone
81%
increase in
global
mobile
traffic in
2013
7. 7
Mobile-Aided Shopping
Moreover, 77%3 of mobile users aid their
shopping processes with mobile searches.
Smartphone owners use their devices to look
for information on businesses located in their
neighborhood and then call them, check their
location on the map, enter their website, or
even visit the business.
24%3 of local information seekers recommend
businesses and services they find this way to
others, or leave their opinion on the Internet.
Almost 40%3 of these users make a purchase
– either online or in-store. These numbers
show how important it is for SMBs to have an
appropriate mobile website. 66%
of global
mobile
traffic will
come from
smartphones
by 2018
77%
of mobile
searches take
place near a
computer
24%
of consumers
tell others
about local
businesses
found via
smartphone
38%
of mobile
consumers
make
a purchase
from these
businesses
8. 8
Mobile Users Going Local
Smartphones provide us with an easy access to information on
what we can find in the neighborhood. This is why optimizing
businesses’ websites for viewing on mobile devices is crucial for
their potential customers.
An astounding 94%3 of all smartphone users look for businesses
in the vicinity. 84%3 of them take consumer action as a result –
contact the business, visit its office, make a purchase from the
business, or recommend it to others. That is why it is so important
for your website to be mobile friendly and display well on mobile,
as well as enable potential customers to contact your business
directly. As many as 64%3 of people choose this way of reaching
companies after finding local information. When you further
promote your mobile site with location based advertising, you will
take full advantage of the potential that the smartphone gives to
local businesses.
of smartphone users
search for local
businesses 94%
9. How to Boost Your Business’s Reach
Most small and medium business owners do not know how
easy it is today to boost their company’s reach for free.
Since it is the Internet that has nowadays become the main
source of information about businesses, you should make sure
the information about your company is easily accessible via the
Google browser and Google Maps, visited everyday by millions
of users. Google My Business, which is a free service, enables
you to create such a digital business card in minutes. When you
make sure that complete and detailed information about your
business is on the Internet, your customers will easily find you
via the Google browser. Thanks to Google My Business, your
digital business card will appear already in the search results.
9
10. How to Boost Your Business’s Reach
It will contain your business’s contact details, its opening
hours and driving directions, or a link to your website.
Make sure the link redirects to an attractive and functional
mobile site. When your potential customer enters your
website, you will only have a few seconds to persuade them
to try out your services. That is why by creating a mobile site
for your company, you will get fully prepared for a today’s
customer – mobile consumer.
Get a free guide to designing mobile sites.
10
11. 11
Non-Mobile Friendly
A research by Google shows what danger underestimating
mobile users may bring.
An astounding 96%4 of mobile consumers have visited a website
that was not optimized for viewing on a smartphone or tablet.
And the less a website is mobile friendly, the more they are willing
to quit browsing, lose interest in the company, or even totally
abandon the purchase intention.
96%
of mobile users have visited
a website that was not
optimized for viewing on
a mobile device
Check out how many mobile customers you miss out
on every day.
12. 12
Sources
1. Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2013-2018, February 2014, Cisco
2. Mobile Search Moments Study, March 2013, Google
3. Our Mobile Planet: United States of America – Understanding the Mobile Consumer, May 2013, Google
4. What Users Want Most from Mobile Sites Today, September 2012, Google Think Insights
13. A quick and simple way to start selling mobile websites under your own brand or create a mobile website for
your business.
Web design agencies, developers, and marketing teams use ActiveMobi white label platform to create and
sell mobile websites to small and medium businesses.
Business owners may create a mobile website themselves using the DIY builder or have a professional site
created by ActiveMobi’s team of designers in up to 5 days.
www.activemobi.com
13