Mobile marketing is a promotional dream when used effectively. It’s perfectly designed for freelancers, providing you with the opportunity to showcase your projects and portfolio at a moments notice. If you love networking, then there’s nothing better than encouraging a potential client to simply get out their smartphone and peruse your achievements, previous projects and recommendations at their fingertips. It’s smart, shows you’re up-to-date with the latest marketing trends, and allows the conversation to continue rather than simply handing out a business card and following up at a later date when they potential customer has had a chance to look at your portfolio of work.
Having a mobile optimized website is not just about how great it looks to potential clients, or simply providing an add-on that will get you points for innovation. It’s becoming an integral part of any promotional activity for both companies and individuals. In a recent study undertaken by Pitney Bowes Smart Essentials, results showed that whilst only 8% of SMEs currently have a mobile optimized website, 49% stated that mobile was in their marketing plan. With one in ten of the study participants also stating that they wanted to invest in mobile soon, with a particular interest in customer payments via mobile solutions, this behaviour amongst SMEs and sole traders (many working on the same level of funding as freelancers and agencies), is an indicator of the value of the mobile web to freelancers.
If you’re still wondering why you should be setting yourself up with a mobile version of your website, then here are three pivotal reasons you should not ignore.
Google Currently Rewards Mobile Accessibility and Hints they will Start Punishing Websites Without Mobile Optimization
Working to get yourself ranking high on search engines is an excellent way to increase your business enquiries and Google is the search engine of choice that continues to dominate the market. As the leading search engine, it’s worth taking notice of the slew of mobile related updates that have been coming from Google HQ, including their recommendations for smartphone optimization.
It seems as though having a mobile optimized version of your site will push you in Google’s good books (according to latest figures), which in turn, is likely to help your rankings somewhat. With this likely to become a necessity rather than a recommendation in the future, the good money is on beginning to enhance your website in this area. With Google wanting to promote the best online experience for their searchers and the fact you can now tailor your AdWords campaigns for mobile devices suggests that the search giant is taking this new market very seriously. Whilst there have been no official announcements that not having a mobile version of your site will hurt your search engine rankings, it’s a solid recommendation that you should not take lightly (especially if your competitors aren’t).
The Smart Phone Market Has Officially Overtaken Standard Phone Sales
2013 saw smart phones achieve dominance over the mobile phone market. Overtaking the commercial sale of standard handheld phones, has meant that the majority of mobile phone users can access your website directly from their handheld device. Desktop versions of websites are difficult and cumbersome to navigate on a smart phone, with small buttons and text to traverse. If a customer has the option of visiting elsewhere for a better mobile experience, then these could be potential customers that you’re losing.
With smartphone aps also becoming a popular way for websites, companies and social media users to more effectively engage with smartphone users, this is just another compelling reason to invest in mobile website technologies. Promoting yourself via social media is an excellent way to facilitate communication and having the option of doing so via a mobile website means that someone can easily navigate your social media channels through to your website via their smart phone. Take the time to experiment yourself with how well your website links from your social media, and think about whether this would be a pleasant experience for your users.
Desktop Sales Have Slumped Thanks to Mobile Devices
Smartphones and tablets have critically changed the way people access the Internet, as demonstrated by the fact that sales of desktop computers have hit a lull in sales for the first time in their production history. In fact, Dell computers have seen a 70% drop in their fiscal second-quarter earnings as a direct results of this. However this doesn’t make SEO for desktops any less critical, they’re still likely to be the source of a majority of internet searches for years to come, however this is another indication that search habits are changing, particularly with casual users of technology. With studies also showing that mobile visitors often engage deeper with websites when surfing and are more prepared to make a purchase. Facilitating this behaviour is an important element of a your websites’ experience.
Setting Up Your Brand With a Mobile Optimized Website
Creating a mobile version of your website can be done in a variety of ways. Many online businesses offer to create a new site from your existing template, or allow you to create your own format. You can also pay for a custom-made mobile version, though this often involves considerable financial investment and can be out of reach for many freelancers. Knowledge of web design is not a necessity for creating an accessible mobile site with some services offering free trials so you can get your site looking exactly as you want before parting with any money.
A mobile site isn’t a way to get ahead in the market anymore. In fact, without a mobile version of your site then you may find yourself lagging behind sooner than you might think. Most large businesses have long since made the change and now smaller businesses are catching up. As a freelancer or a small business operator, this is an investment that will allow you to promote your services to an entirely new range of customers. Whether you wish to utilize your website simply for showcasing your talents or to sell via an ecommerce site, the facts and figures suggest that website traffic is beginning to change dramatically. With Google intending to lead the charge towards promoting mobile optimization, ensure that you don’t get left behind.
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