Mobile Usage Trends and How They’re Affecting Business Owners Today

It’s 2015, and you don’t have to look far to notice the increase in mobile usage. You can see it on the subway, in line at the supermarket, and while walking the streets. So, what does it mean for your business? How is the increase in mobile usage affecting the way you need to market your business? And how can you use it to your advantage? All great questions. To answer them, let’s explore recent mobile trends in more detail.

Mobile Usage Is Overtaking Desktop Usage

The KPCB 2015 mobile technology trends report shows that, so far in 2015, mobile internet usage is higher than desktop internet usage. 51% of people’s time on the internet is spent on their mobile device compared to 42% on a desktop and 7% on other connected devices. It was also higher in 2014 and the trend is that it will continue to grow. And, if people are spending more time on their mobile device, it means that . . .

More People Are Reaching Your Site on Their Mobile Device

In RKG’s quarterly digital report for Q3 of 2014 (where they analyze data from a subset of their clients, they found that mobile devices accounted for 38% of North American organic search visits to their clients’ websites, up from 27% the year before.

Your potential clients no longer have to wait until they get home to visit your website and decide if they want to do business with you. That’s why it’s so important you have a mobile-optimized, responsive website. Most importantly, the mobile version of your website should make it easy for them to contact you, with a phone number they can click to call and/or an easy way they can email you.

Also, make it easy for them to find your location (if you have a physical location) so they can easily click for directions. Finally, if they can buy from you on the website, make sure your shopping cart is mobile-optimized and an easy experience for them on their mobile device.

Statistics gathered by SCORE show that 73% of mobile searches trigger follow up actions (calls, visit, purchases or shares). So don’t take those tips lightly. In addition to them, ensure that users can read the words on your website without needing to zoom in. Consider less words in a larger font size.

Make Sure People Can Find Your Site on Google

In April, 2015, Google released its new mobile search algorithm. When users use their mobile device to Google your business, your search ranking will now be affected by how optimized your site is — or isn’t — for mobile.

In this article written on Econsultancy shortly after the new Google algorithm was made live, you can see the affects it had on the mobile ranking of organizations like British Airways and Siemens. You can see some pretty dramatic drops and rises in their Google ranking for various keywords, based on mobile-optimization alone. In some cases, the drop was from the fifth site ranked on Page 1 of Google all the way down to Page 9 of Google. So make sure to take this seriously. Your potential new clients might not even be able to find you if your site isn’t optimized for mobile.

You can use Google’s mobile-friendly test tool to test the various pages of your site and see if they are all mobile-friendly.

Shoppers Are Using Their Mobile Device to Make Decisions

SCORE also found that, “consumers use their smartphones to make buying decisions at every step of the purchasing process,” 50% use it on their way to the store, 60% in the store, and 39% leave the store because of something they saw/read on their mobile device.

If you have a physical location, keep that in mind. How is your reputation online? Make sure any bad reviews have been resolved and commented on. Make sure that, if your prices are higher than competitors, that the value is clearly explained on your mobile site.

Also, proactively offer coupons via email campaigns. If they can easily find and use a coupon while in your store, that will increase the chance of purchase. SCORE’s data also shows that recipients of email marketing campaigns purchase 28% more often and 64% of decision makers read email on their phone. So this is a big opportunity for your business.

Use Local Search Terms

Another trend SCORE uncovered in their data is that 43% of searches use a local keyword. So make sure you’re ranking high for search terms that include your city and other locally relevant terms.

Those are the major mobile trends of 2015 and moving into the future. Now that you’re more educated about them and have some ideas on how to use them to your advantage, it’s time to take action. Don’t just read this article. Read it and start making some changes today, whether it’s updating your website, improving your local search terms for SEO, or launching a mobile campaign with your media partner. The trends are showing that mobile usage is only going to continue to increase so take advantage of this growing opportunity now.