How to Make Your Business Mobile Friendly?
Over the past few years, smartphones and the world of mobile devices have taken over the planet. For many people, there is no need to own a computer or a laptop anymore when the device in your hand is capable of doing so much.
Combining this mobile device growth with the ever evolving business industries means your business not only has to be very mobile-friendly but also has to take advantage of and leverage the mobile world. Here is how to make your business mobile-friendly.
Table of Contents
Make a Mobile Friendly Website
The first thing you need to do is to ensure you have a mobile-friendly website. You must remember that people spend a lot of time on their phones, and therefore, when they check out your website, they will be doing so from a mobile device.
A mobile-friendly website is the difference between someone staying on your site or leaving immediately. Being met with your regular website on a much smaller screen is a huge turn-off for customers. Not only does it look bad, but it is also hard to navigate and is just a generally poor user experience.
Making sure you have a website that runs seamlessly on a mobile device is necessary in this day and age. Spending the time and money on making this happen can – and will – benefit you in the short and long term.
Design an App
Apps are a huge industry. And if you sell any product or service, your business should have an app that someone can download and use. This app doesn’t even have to be the most detailed thing either. If it is clean, simple and does what it is meant to, people will download and use it.
An app also allows you to develop and grow a community, ensuring more interaction with your customers. It will also make the process of buying your product or securing your services that is much easier for people.
Prime examples are the apps created by Facebook and Netflix. They are barely different to what you find on a web browser, yet they are more convenient, easy to use, and allow you to do what you need to do.
Banking apps are another great example. While you can just log into your PayPal account, for example, using the app most definitely feels more convenient – even if it takes you the same amount of time to transfer money, for example. You need to ensure that your app also offers something the desktop experience doesn’t. These benefits will be discussed later.
Also, don’t ignore the fact that if you think you don’t need an app, but a competitor has a great one, you will need one just so you aren’t left behind – especially if the app proves to increase business.
Increase Communication
Of the biggest benefits mobile devices offer businesses nowadays is the increase in communication. Gone are the days when you had to send letters in the mail or wait for a potential customer to go on their computer and check their email.
Customers can see all the communication with them almost immediately now. Whether it is a text message, an email, a message on social media, or a post on Instagram, communication between you and your customer is near-instant.
This is especially the case for text messaging; with a 98% open rate, you can send SMS online to reach customers on the device they use the most: their mobile phone.
On the topic of Instagram, having an Instagram or Facebook page allows for constant communication and back and forth with customers. They can comment on your posts and then you can reply, allowing you to build a relationship with each individual customer – something that wasn’t really possible a few years back. See some Instagram Apps that can help you in your business.
Offer Mobile Benefits
Having your business become more mobile-friendly opens you up to provide more opportunities to offer new benefits to customers and get more customers and app downloads in return.
You can offer discounts on products and services if customers download or interact with your app, like 10% off a meal for people who ‘like’ or comment on your business’s latest Instagram photo, or free delivery if they order your goods through your business’s app.
In-app benefits are massive in this day and age, and customers and potential customers seriously respond to them in a very positive way. As mentioned already, there are so many routes you can go that take advantage of an app or a mobile presence.
To take full advantage, you should make sure that the mobile side of your business offers something the desktop side doesn’t. The end goal is to be in contact with more people on mobile, therefore giving them a reason to check out the mobile side of your business and not just stick with the desktop side.
Smartphones and the mobile world have taken over, and the industry is only growing. If you and your business haven’t started taking advantage of it, you should start right now. It isn’t too late, but you don’t want to be left behind.
The industry is only going to grow and evolve more, and the sooner you hop onto that train, the better it will be for your business and your future.