Business owners in today’s world need to find every competitive advantage that they can. This is why many companies are now placing a large emphasis on
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A perfect example of this is Google. Google is the largest search engine by far, so businesses owners want to rank highly on it. A recent algorithm update by Google now makes websites that are optimized for mobile devices appear higher in their rankings. This has forced many businesses owners to alter their websites in order to ensure that they keep up with their competition.
Changing your website can range from very simple to very complex, depending on how it is currently set up and how you want to alter it. No matter which way you want to go about changing your website though, there are a few things that you should keep in mind.
How do users interact with your website?
When optimizing your website for mobile devices, you really want to focus on how users are going to interact with your website, rather than just trying to do things for the sake of
Google is looking for things like this, rather than what is simply written in the title tags, when determining how suitable your website is for the web. If you are going to redesign your website, here are some things that you should include:
Since people are on a mobile device, they may want to go directly from looking at your website to calling you. Providing them a button to do this will make it more likely that they will follow through with the action.
#2. Location information
If your business has a location that you want customers to visit, it is important to give them information on how to get there. The best way to do this is to include a map that they can go to and get directions. Sites like Google Maps and Bing Maps both make it easy to embed a map into your website. At the very least you should have the address present so that people can search for it to get directions.
#3. Booking and Shopping Options
You want to make sure that anything people can do on the desktop version of the site, they can do on the mobile version. This is especially true for any type of e-commerce or booking actions. You don’t want people to change their minds before they get a chance to follow through with the desired action, so give your customers the ability to complete all important actions right from their device.
#4. Mobile Payments
Another thing you want to think about is if your site allows visitors to make purchases. Mobile payment solutions are important as well, so you will not want to overlook them. Anyone visiting your site from a mobile device should be able to easily find where to “check out” and be able to securely enter in their personal information. If your site is confusing or not secure, then it could end up hurting you in search engine rankings, not to mention in the minds of your potential customers.
Setting up a mobile payment option for your website doesn’t need to be complicated. If you are not sure where to start, talk to your web hosting provider and see which mobile payment solutions they are compatible with, and if they would recommend any. Then look into each one and see which looks the best to you.
Consider the features that it provides, along with any costs and fees that are attached to it. There are a lot of options out there, and it is important to find the one that will work best with your company’s needs.
Once you have decided which mobile payment option you are going with, the provider can help you to set it up, or you can work with your web hosting provider again. They know how to walk people through the process, so don’t worry if you are not that technologically savvy. It may take some time to get it up and running, but it will be worth it in the end. You are much more likely to complete a sale if your potential customer can make the transaction right then and there, so you should really consider implementing a mobile payment solution as soon as you can.
Conclusion
Mobile phones have become so prominent that they have now replaced desktop computers in terms of the number of search queries. People always have their mobile device on them, allowing them to find the information that they need, or make the purchase that they want, right at the moment. If your website doesn’t keep up with these devices, popular search engines like Google are going to lower your site in the rankings. Even just dropping a couple of spots could be the difference between making a sale or losing a customer.
Mobile devices are not going anywhere any time soon, so you will want to update your website as soon as you can. You might be surprised at how much it can help search rankings.
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