This is the time of year when business owners (not to mention those of us in the web design community) naturally tend to look ahead and think about what a new year might mean for the world of online marketing. That’s certainly the case now, as we are fielding more questions than ever about what to expect in 2019.
There are never certain answers to these questions, of course, simply because technology moves quickly and no one can predict the future. However, from our point of view it’s easy to see that the biggest trend to pay attention to is the one that is already taking place right in front of our very eyes. In fact, it’s so significant that it’s easy to take the associated changes for granted.
We are talking, in this case, about the shift towards mobile web usage.
No matter where you look people are on their phones and tablets. Statistics back up what our eyes see, with mobile web usage approaching 60% of all Internet traffic in 2018. There’s no reason to think mobile web users won’t make up and even bigger percentage of the online market in coming years.
Smart marketers are taking big steps to adjust. Here are some of the tools we are using to help our clients to be ready for the continued growth of mobile computing in 2019 and beyond…
1. Mobile-Compatible Websites
Naturally, the easiest way to prepare for a world filled with mobile web users is to ensure your website looks and works perfectly on smaller screens. More often than not that means implementing a responsive web design, which is a convenient and inexpensive way to stay ahead of the technology curve. If you haven’t already made this change, you should take action now.
2. Fast Pages Optimized for Small Screens
The emphasis today isn’t just on mobile compatibility, but also speed. Most of your potential customers won’t hang around for more than a few seconds if they can’t access your site. Knowing that, the smart move is to optimize your images, text, and layout for quick delivery. It also helps if you can upgrade your web hosting plan.
3. Content That’s Voice-Search Friendly
It’s gone largely unnoticed by many marketers, but traditional search engine optimization is fading away for a variety of reasons. One of them has to do with the popularity of voice-assisted search apps prevalent on mobile phones and tablets. In order to gain traffic from searchers who are using voice search, your website needs to be one Google and Microsoft trust, while at the same time featuring natural-language search phrases.
4. Quick and Simple Calls to Action
Buyers aren’t going to spend their valuable time typing long strings of text into tiny contact forms while using a phone or tablet. So, if you want to generate conversions, you need quick options like radio buttons, drop-down menus, and click-to-call features. These might not seem like a big deal, but they can go a long way towards convincing people who are interested in working with you to take the next step. Or to put it another way, they remove an important obstacle to finishing a sale.