Modern mobile strategies have to consider the buyer, the search engines and the competition. A business’s overall mobile strategy should focus not just on incoming web traffic, but social media, branding and in-store or in-office integration, as well.
BYOD: Natural, Physical Mobile Integration
As discussed in the article “Staying Connected: Does Your Business Have a Mobile Strategy?,” it is important for employees to use mobile devices – whether they are company issued or not. Consider the bring your own device (BYOD) movement. Traditionally employers discouraged the use of mobile devices at work, since contemporary wisdom said they served as a distraction. Employees in BYOD workplaces, however, are encouraged to use their own tablets and smartphones to work, sync up with the on-site wifi and work with the mobile devices they use the most and understood the best – their own.
Some BYOD businesses save significantly on not just hardware costs, but on human resources – BYOD decreases the learning curves associated with training. BYOD comes with special risks – if you experiment with BYOD, it is critical to employe IT professionals who have experience in BYOD security.
Focus on Mobile Search
If you sell online, you are, by definition, a mobile seller and marketer. No longer a novelty, mobile search gobbles up a bigger chunk of online searches every year. Research shows that in 2012, around 80 percent of online buyers still used desktops or PCs. A year later in 2013, that number was down to 73 percent. By 2014 it was just 66 percent.
During that same time period, mobile search grew from 25 percent to 34 percent to 42 percent. Google penalizes websites that neglect mobile and prefers websites that pay attention to mobile search when designing their pages.
Impress Google with RWD and Exclusive Landing Pages
Google wants to ensure that it lists websites that will look and function properly on the smartphones and tablets of their mobile searchers. Responsive web design (RWD) is a strategy that enables users to use the same website for both mobile and desktop, and ensures that one site will translate seamlessly from realm to realm in regards to scrolling, image formatting, navigation and overall look and feel. Also, create landing pages on your websites that are mobile-exclusive. All entry points – including social, email and PPC – should be covered by their own exclusive mobile landing pages.
Your mobile strategy directly affects your incoming traffic, your customer service, your search rankings and, of course, your sales. Expand your mobile strategy to the physical workplace by incorporating smartphones and tablets in the store or at the office – perhaps allowing employees to bring their own. Finally, remember that it doesn’t matter whether or not you think mobile is important – it matters that Google thinks it is.