Hardwood Floors April May 2018

TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

By Jodi O’Toole

COME TO THE MOBILE SIDE The first iPhone was introduced in June 2007. Today, many business owners find it hard to

remember how we operated in a world without this technology. Smartphone adoption has been rapid. Less than 10 years later, website traffic analysis company StatCounter reported that mobile internet usage exceeded desktop usage in October 2016. Understanding why mobile-friendly sites are important and how to embrace this change is integral to business success in today’s marketplace. Although it is a common best practice to hire a marketing or web professional to support your web presence, it is possible that you can tackle this yourself. Either way, this article should help you understand and navigate the mobile website realm. Why is a mobile website so crucial for my business? In the February/March 2018 edition of Hardwood Floors , Katrina Olson called attention to the fact that a majority of consumers form impressions of a company before ever contacting the service provider (Content Marketing: It’s All About the Consumer, p. 40-44). Imagine you are a customer searching for hardwood flooring installers on your smartphone or tablet. The first site you find is hard to navigate without pinching, zooming, and scrolling from side to side. Then imagine the next website in the search results is built for mobile devices and is easily navigated. Remembering that you are a consumer – not realizing the possible value of any of the content on the site or the credentials of the service provider – which company would you pick? In addition to being user-friendly, it may be useful to know that Google is beginning to rank search results based on how mobile-friendly a website is.

How can I make my website mobile friendly?

The first action to take, whether you believe your site is mobile friendly or not, is to test it. You can borrow a device from a friend, but better yet, Google provides a basic tool to test this: goo.gl/vUJWvj.

Additional reporting, including views of your site on various screen sizes and devices, is available through a free tool at ready.mobi. Once you know how the site performs, further action can be taken either by a consultant or yourself. The quickest and easiest way to have a mobile-friendly site is to use a website hosting company that offers templates for websites that are already mobile friendly.

Photo courtesy of NeONBRAND

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