By Ryan Boog

CEO at Happy Dog Web Productions

HOW MOBILE CAN

EMPOWER YOUR

BUSINESS 10 ADVANTAGES FOR COMPANIES THAT GO

MOBILE

The choice to optimize your website is up to you, but the facts are

crystal clear: mobile-optimized websites equal business success.

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How Mobile Can Empower YOUR Business

10 ADVANTAGES FOR COMPANIES THAT GO MOBILE

We wrote this guide for marketing-minded professionals

curious to educate themselves on the benefits of mobile

optimization for business.

Whether you’re currently considering a mobile website (seriously)

or simply want to learn more about how it can empower your

business, read on!

IN THIS GUIDE:

Mobile Growth – what’s going on with mobile?

A Survey of my Favorite Brands – who has a mobile site?

Mobile Interaction: Getting into the Head of Smartphone

Users – what do they want and expect?

10 Advantages for Companies that Go Mobile

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MOBILE GROWTH Mobile devices have overtaken PC’s as the most common Web access device worldwide,

according to a Comscore Research study.

Mobile traffic currently makes up a majority of all online traffic. Countless studies have proved

that going mobile can dramatically empower your business.

Businesses that optimize for mobile not only experience greater sales success and brand

visibility, but they strengthen their overall reputation as a company because having a mobile

website shows you care about your customers.

News articles pick on businesses without mobile websites. In the past, in one article I read, the

writer mentioned fashion designer Marc Jacobs did not have a mobile site. Curious, I checked

shortly after– and now they actually have one.

A SURVEY OF MY FAVORITE BRANDS As I read all the statistics supporting mobile optimization, it was clear to me – this is a really,

really good idea. Then I wondered – which of my favorite companies are actually optimized?

On my iPhone, I Google-searched some of my favorite brands and local companies to which I

am loyal. The results of my informal survey were very interesting.

I’m an outdoorsman. I like to fish and golf and my wife hunts as well. The most popular local

outfitters around here is Cabelas. They indeed have a very nice mobile site. It’s not 100%

responsive, as they seem to detect devices and display content that way. Regardless, the

mobile experience showed they put effort towards that.

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I also love the Vikings. Their website too is mobile, but they went a different approach than

responsive design. The redirect to an entirely different website, m.vikings.com.

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Lastly, the content management system that we use the most is Joomla. So, I checked out

Joomla.org. It is fully responsive. The transition from mobile to desktop seems pretty seamless.

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It appears that all of the major players and brands have wisely decided to have a mobile

website.

However, I was slightly miffed to see that the amazing franchise Original

Pancake House does not have a mobile website.

After digging, there are quite a few spots in local business that websites

haven’t gone mobile. To me, this screams opportunity for any business

who wants to go mobile. Now is a great time to get ahead of some of

your competition and do what the big players are doing.

Going mobile is advantageous for numerous reasons (which we’ll shortly

get to), but the gargantuan growth and popularity of mobile usage

should be enough of a reason.

Going mobile isn’t just beneficial for large businesses, either. Business

Insider recently did an eight-article series on “The Mobile Experience

Effect,” examining “how small business owners can achieve more by using the latest in mobile

technology.” One quote from their article “Mobile’s Getting So Big That No Business Can

Ignore It” is particularly important to note:

Checking a smartphone has become a reflex for people making decisions.

Understanding what resources people access through mobile devices, and

using that knowledge to their advantage is going to be an essential part of

business strategy.

Midwestern coffee shop Dunn Bros. is a good example of a more modestly sized company

with a mobile website. They’re not a “small” company per se, but in comparison to their

competitors, they are. The business has less than 100 locations around the U.S.

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Even Rudy’s, a local restaurant in White Bear Lake (where Happy Dog Web Productions is

located), has a mobile website for customers, and they only have a handful of locations in

Minnesota!

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MOBILE INTERACTION: GETTING INTO THE HEADS OF SMARTPHONE

USERS In July 2012 Google sponsored a survey (conducted by Sterling Research and SmithGeiger) that

seals the deal on why mobile is important. The research backs up all the claims that it’s far

better to have a mobile website than to not have one:

Mobile-friendly sites encourage conversions and create customers. 67% said they’re

more likely to buy a site’s products or services because they visited the site. (Note:

customers cannot visit if you don’t even have a mobile site. Why would you pass up the

opportunity?)

You only hurt yourself if you don’t have a mobile website. A scary statistic: 61% of

users will leave your mobile site in a heartbeat if they can’t find what they’re looking for

– and they’ll go to another site. You don’t have a phone number for your restaurant?

They’re outta there. You don’t have an option for e-commerce that they think you

should have? Hasta la vista. Half of all people surveyed in this study said even if they

like the business, they will use the business less often if their website is not mobile-

friendly. And you can’t blame them – who wants to be pinching and zooming in on a

tiny website trying to find information all day?

Non-mobile friendly sites can do huge damage to your company’s reputation. When

people visit hard-to-maneuver sites on their mobile device, they get upset! The

majority of users are less likely to interact with the company again.

7 ADVANTAGES FOR COMPANIES THAT GO MOBILE Here are 10 specific perks to going mobile for businesses that show you how you could see your

business significantly empowered and benefited by a mobile website.

1. Mobile is a powerful marketing channel. People enjoy using their mobile devices. It’s hard to deny the “cool factor” that still lingers with

smartphone and tablet usage. This is the best kind of marketing - you’re reaching people when

they are using snazzy devices they like for personal or professional use. In addition, you’re

typically marketing to them at a point closer to conversion. On-the-go mobile users may be

researching products to buy, restaurants to visit, air fare to book – now. It’s incredibly powerful

for business to climb on board.

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2. Mobile enhances your reputation with customers. 48% of customers say they feel that companies who don’t have mobile websites don’t really

care about them as a prospect. Ouch. However, if customers see that you care enough to

ensure that their mobile experience is convenient and enjoyable, they will be back. When

people visit great mobile sites, 74% say they’d return, in Google’s July 2012 survey.

3. Mobile sites allow for an instant information exchange. Just like desktop websites, mobile websites transfer information instantly to your prospects

that are looking for it. Even better on a mobile website, the screen is smaller and information is

limited. So whatever they want (an address, company information, hours, product price), they

will get it pretty quickly. You have the power to put information consumers want into their hands

simply as fast as your Internet browser will load in their phone.

4. Mobile commerce works wonders. Globally, eBay sells one product per second via mobile, according to a blog post from

Econsultancy. Sites enabled for e-commerce on mobile devices see results. On Black Friday in

2012, 24 percent of consumers used a mobile device

to visit a retailer’s site (almost double the 14.3 percent

in 2011), according to IBM. In addition, iPads

generated more traffic than any other tablet or

smartphone.

We live in a fast-paced culture where people get

things done quickly. They don’t sit on their hands. Imagine: a consumer wants to buy athletic

shoes online from your company, but when they visit your website on their Android, they

immediately see it’s not mobile optimized. Do you think they’ll wait until they get home to buy

your shoes? Ideally… but in this mobile culture, they’ll have to have a Super Glue bond to your

brand to not simply skip over to another website that is optimized for mobile.

5. Mobile allows you to be found better in mobile search engines. Since mobile allows for localized search based on geographic location, so the mobile search

results may be slightly different than those on desktop. If you have a mobile optimized site, it

will be that much likely that Google will rank you higher as a relevant, valuable result for a local

user.

6. Mobile is relatively inexpensive and easy to maintain. Especially compared with mobile applications, mobile websites will not empty your wallet.

They are also easier to maintain than an app. Changing and updating content can be done very

quickly on a mobile website, while changing an app takes longer and may require lengthy

coding changes.

7. Mobile creates leads faster.

eBay sells one product per

second via mobile.

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Everything is quicker with mobile. You reach your customers faster. They can tap or click to

access information, call, email, or share. They see your advertising. In return, their questions

and queries are quickly resolved. You could have a new Facebook fan or addition to your email

list in seconds. In addition, call-to-action content will be seen and decided upon all the faster on

a mobile device. If they’re ready to act, well, there you go!

Our hope is that you found this guide to be educational. If you have further

questions about mobile development, design, or optimization, we’d love to connect

with you. As a mobile website development company, we’ve done it before – and

we’d love to do it again for your company.

THANKS FOR READING!

Happy Dog Web Productions

1310 Highway 96 East

Suite 240

White Bear Lake, MN 55110

(651)243-2DOG

sales@hdwebpros.com

We’ll bark like crazy if you visit our website, follow us on Twitter, or like us on

Facebook!