According to Google, 94% of U.S. smartphone owners search for local information on their phones. And 77% do so even at home or at work, where desktop computers are typically nearby. Another source, ReachLocal, says that 87% of smartphone users use a search engine once a day. And stats like these are 100% reason your website design should be ready for mobile search.

Search engine optimization is a set of techniques that draw visitors to your website by improving results in search engine rankings. Mobile optimization takes SEO a step further by looking at the elements of your website development – design, structure, page speed – to ensure that the visitor experience is optimized for any size device.

Your advertising and marketing campaigns won’t be as effective if your prospects encounter frustration trying to contact you or find more information. For example, if visitors have to pinch and zoom to read your website content, your website isn’t mobile-friendly.

Instead, if your website is mobile-ready, it’s functional for visitors when they click your web pages in their smartphone search results. They can see your content on their small screens, complete simple tasks, and respond to your call to action. Designs need to accommodate the “fat finger,” so that visitors won’t be frustrated by accidental clicks when buttons are too small. Or if visitors are trying to scroll, their accidental clicks won’t send them to another page.

Optimizing your site for local search is also important. The first step there is to include your city and state in your website’s metadata, including the title tag.

Of the three ways to create a mobile-ready website – responsive web design, dynamic serving, and separate URLs – Google prefers “responsive design.” Your pages use the same URL whether visitors are accessing via desktop computer, tablet or mobile phone, yet as they do, the display adjusts and responds to the screen size. You can find out more from Google here. Or call us, and we’ll help you out.

We’re 24 Communications, website developers in Montgomery, Alabama. If you’d like to talk about your mobile-ready website, give us a call today!