As someone who watches and reports on website analytics for dozens of companies I can tell you that mobile web traffic is likely at the start of a ‘hockey stick’ of growth.
But you don’t need me to tell you anything about the growth of mobile traffic. Just think of yourself, your family or anyone of nearly any age in any waiting room anywhere.
Heck, think of yourself as you are watching television. Thumbing through your phone, right? As are nearly all of those people in all those waiting rooms.
Business owners need to understand that Google now has two different indexes to fulfill search requests. One index provides results to laptops, the second — newer — index answers mobile queries.
That mobile index was tested before ‘going live’ last Fall. Google now crawls and indexes mobile sites independently.
They are learning how to best present mobile search results and businesses not adapting and optimizing will slowly lose digital market share.
Points to consider:
— Is your website responsive?
— Have you claimed your Google Business page? Vital for brick-and-mortar businesses.
— Does your mobile site display a clickable phone number atop every page on your site?
— Is there a clickable address for navigation in the header or footer?
— Most importantly, do you know if your mobile traffic has been growing?
A one-time investment in ensuring all those items are covered will pay benefits for years.
This investment is particularly for home and local services
Google is the default search engine on Mobile devices and powers 95% of mobile searches worldwide.
Google is rolling voice search out on its mobile devices and this is new type of search for several reasons.
If you are a brick-and-mortar business, particularly working directly with end customers, Google search should be considered a prime source of prospects. Why? Because Google presents direct communication options in mobile search results.
Your customer can search for your business specifically or, preferably, search for what you offer and find you that way. The catch? If they are on their phone they can ‘click to call’ without ever getting to your website.
They can also click for directions, which can be a great help to prospects, vendors, drivers and even employees.
If you offer a service for homeowner, being optimized for the phone is even more important. Why? Because Google knows where your phone is, and returns nearby business listings with click-to-call.