Just because your website can be viewed on a smartphone doesn’t make it a “mobile” website. It’s great if your web pages can shrink down small enough to fit on my phone, but if I have to zoom in (and zoom in, and zoom in) to even read your unclickable phone number or find a map to your location, I’m not going to call you. I’m going to go on to the next business in my search results.
We are definitely not patient consumers when it comes to looking things up online. We hate waiting for slow websites to load, we start sighing with frustration if we see your teeny tiny website, and we immediately bail out if your menu or other important parts of your website are in Flash. How many calls are you missing?
Here are 5 ways local businesses fail with their mobile presence:
Too Big
I searched for “emergency plumber” and even though this website was in the top 3 search results, this giant webpage doesn’t even scale down to fit my screen.
Too much info
A website that works well on a big computer monitor does not work well on a smartphone, even if it can shrink down small enough to fit. It’s too busy and I’m not going to get out the magnifying glass to try to find your phone number or address. So even though this mattress store did well in the search results, I’m moving on to the next.
Nothing to see here
I searched for a tow truck, and this company was first in the search results. But even though I tried multiple times, no website ever resolved. I don’t know what causes this problem, but I’m on to the next towing company, pronto.
An 800 number is not local
I was looking for a costume store nearby, and this was in the top results. All they had was an 800 number and I probably could have called them to see where their nearest location was, but if I’m in my car, searching for something nearby, I’m expecting to see the info for the closest location to me.
Not enough info on a too-small page
If I have a sick or injured pet in my lap and I’m searching for the nearest animal hospital, I need your phone number, address, a map, your hours, and whether or not you handle emergencies. That’s a pretty picture of your lobby, but it’s not helping me.
Get out your smartphone and look up your business. If it’s got any of the issues pictured here, it’s time to upgrade to a real mobile website. And when you’re deciding which things to include, think like a customer and make sure you’re presenting the most relevant information in the clearest, most user-friendly way possible.