Most of us spend a significant amount of our time on our mobiles. Nowadays many people don’t even watch TV without also doing some online browsing. That means your marketing effort, however large or small, must reach customers in the place where they are already spending a lot of their time: on a mobile.
Mobile first strategy
But what does “mobile first” mean?
Until recently it was common practice to start with a desktop version of your website and then adapt that to make a mobile version. In today’s world – where, according to media consultancy comScore, we spend on average 69% of our media time on smartphones – you must think about your mobile site first, and then your desktop version.
Here are some key reasons why and how a mobile-first strategy can impact your business:
In 2015, Google confirmed that for the first time the number of mobile searches had overtaken those made on desktop. Mobile users want a personal, content-rich and fast experience. According to IT experts Indus Net technologies, nearly 40% of users will leave your site and visit a competitor’s site if they feel yours isn’t optimised for mobile. So, the faster you adapt your site for mobile, the better for your workshop. What’s more, Google says that 61% of users are unlikely to ever return to a mobile site that they had trouble accessing, so to protect your online business you need to think mobile first.
According to data analysts Nectafy, 88% of consumers who search for a type of local business on a mobile device go on to call or visit that business within 24 hours. So if you do get the mobile experience right, you could be winning instant business for your workshop.
According to a Google Mobile Moments Study, 40% of mobile searches have local intent. That’s a huge percentage of people out there looking for a persuasive message from a local business.
Since 2011, Google reports that searches containing “near me” have increased by 3400%, and, unsurprisingly, 80% of these searches have come from mobile devices.
We have got used to expecting information ‘right now’, because we have been given the technology that can deliver it.
Here are some interesting statistics from Google regarding the on-going growth of ‘near me’ searches:
In the last few years, there has been:
- A 150%+ growth in mobile searches for “___ near me now” (for example, “food near me now,” “gas station near me now,” and “delivery near me open now”).
- A 900%+ growth in mobile searches for “___ near me today/tonight” (for example, “open houses near me today,” “cheap hotels near me tonight,” and “movies playing near me today”).A 200%+ growth in mobile searches for “Open” + “now” + “near me” (for example, “restaurants near me open now,” “stores open near me right now,” and “pharmacy near me open now”). Source : Google Trends, U.S., Search term “near me now,” May 2013–April 2018.
- For more on “near me searches”, see our Digital Marketing blog ‘Car service near me' - The rise of local searches’ and how to apply this to your workshop.
- Local businesses all over the world are waking up to the fact that mobile friendly websites are what searchers are looking for and are therefore the kind sites that will increase profits. Now is the time to adopt a mobile first strategy for your workshop, to stay ahead of your competition and reap the benefits.
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