5 Ways to Make Your Small Business Mobile Friendly

If you review the Google Analytics data for your website, you’ve probably noticed that more people are visiting your site with a mobile device. How can you take advantage of this shift in technology?

We recommend the following 5 tips.

Build a Responsive Website

Responsive websites will resize and switch out elements based on the device used to view them, from desktop PCs to your tablet or phone. Websites that are not responsive can be difficult to read and to navigate on mobile devices.

If your site is out of date and you’ve been considering an upgrade, this is yet another reason to do so.

One of the best and easiest ways to make your website responsive is by selecting a responsive theme on WordPress. It’s quick and inexpensive, but will make a huge difference to your audience.

Optimize Your Website for Mobile

A responsive design alone isn’t enough to make your website truly mobile friendly. It should also load quickly.

Multitasking is difficult on mobile devices, so users could be less patient than they would be if they were browsing on a computer.

Think about how your customers and prospects use your website. Enlarged buttons will be easier to press on cellphones and tablets. If your website includes forms, consider shortening them.

Contact information such as address and phone number will help search engines know where you’re located. This will make it more likely that your site will appear in local search engine results.

Update Business Listings

Your website isn’t the only place where people connect with your business online. Business listings play an important role in mobile web searches.

If your prospects are searching for businesses like yours from their mobile devices, directory listings such as Yelp and Google Places will usually rank highly.

In addition, most of these directory listings tie to mobile apps that your potential customers can use to find you. Add and claim as many business listings as you can, and fill out your information accurately and consistently.

Here are some of the most popular online business directories.

• Google Places
• Yelp
• Yahoo
• Bing
• Citysearch

Use Social Media

Make mobile work for your business by being active on social media. Your customers and prospects are already using these apps constantly, especially on their mobile devices.

By staying active, you can show up on their news feeds and twitter feeds, right alongside updates from their closest friends and favorite brands. Consider social media advertising in order to specifically target people in your local area.

Optimize Your Emails for Mobile

Email is still one of the best ways for businesses to connect with people. If you’re using an old email template with several colors or Flash elements, it’s time for an update.

Keep your email templates as clean and simple as possible. A quick Google search will provide you with plenty of free options, or you can use an email service specifically for small businesses. These services usually have templates available that are already optimized for mobile viewing.