The way that people access the internet is changing rapidly, and it is now common knowledge that the range of devices used for this purpose is increasing exponentially. While a few years ago it would have been safe to assume that visitors to your company website would be accessing it via a desktop or laptop computer, chances are that they will now use a Smartphone or tablet to meet the demands of business on-the-go.

Up until recently, traditional websites have not been optimised for mobile displays, and as such many do not render to the user’s expectations on modern mobile devices. Certain industries at the forefront of technology have recognised this issue and have responded by migrating their company websites to a mobile-friendly format. Unfortunately, too many decision-makers remain in the dark about this crucial problem and are often unaware that this can directly influence the bottom line of their business.

In this section, we will review the importance of optimising company websites for mobile compatibility and provide some advice for senior executives which applies to a range of industries.

 Mobile-friendly Websites

A mobile-friendly website should be optimised so that it displays correctly on small screens, which include iPhone and Android smartphones or medium-sized tablets. Traditional websites designed for display on desktop or laptop computers render poorly on mobile devices, while mobile-optimized websites are adjusted to a smaller display size. The content and interface of the website is formatted in a mobile-friendly way, to include:

• • Mobile-friendly page navigation
  • Larger text formatting
  • Touch-friendly page elements
  • Optimization for faster download

Why Your Business Needs a Mobile-friendly Website

As visitor access to company websites becomes increasingly more popular on Smartphones and tablets, it is crucial to ensure that all visitors are left with a positive impression of their experience.  Technical and design issues affecting your company website could have a serious impact on how they view your business – if it is slow to respond, difficult to navigate or otherwise there are any issues using it on a mobile device, there is always the chance they will seek out a competitor. By ensuring that your company has a mobile-friendly website, you can gain several crucial benefits:

• Enhanced search visibility
• Enhanced user experience
• Enhanced brand identity
• Improved lead generation

The point about search visibility is key for your business. From April 21^st, 2015 Google started to privilege mobile-optimized sites over traditional websites in search results made from mobile devices, which directly boosted the ranking of mobile-friendly websites on mobile search results. As the number of visitors to company websites using mobile devices increases, this can have some serious implications for the online visibility of a business. The bottom line is, the smoother and more optimized an experience you can provide for mobile visitors, the more likely this this will translate to new business opportunities. In an increasingly more mobile business world, visitors to your website will expect access at their convenience, on the device of their choice. It is vital that you ensure that they can get what they need, in the way the they expect, when they need it.

Is Our Company Website Mobile-Friendly?

The easiest way to tell if your company web-site is mobile-friendly is if is able to scale the content and navigation in a user-friendly way to display properly on a small screen. If you are unable to decide if your company website is optimized for mobile displays, you can use Google’s free Mobile-Friendly test. Enter the URL that you’d like to check, and the test will let you know if your company website is mobile-friendly or raise any issues that you will need to address to reach that standard. If your website fails the test, it is vital that you convert it into a mobile-friendly format as soon as possible.

How Do I Create a Mobile-Friendly Website?

Converting a company website which is not mobile-friendly requires a degree of technical development, which will vary on a case-by case basis. It is not a simple case of switching a website over from a more traditional design to one optimized for mobile viewing but will in some cases require a large degree of redesign and optimization. A lot depends on the design of your current company website, and how well-coded it is – if it uses a content management system (CMS) driven by a database, then the optimization may be as simple as an update of the page templates. On the other hand, some websites require a significant degree of development, and may even need to be rebuilt from the ground up. Either way, you can choose to stay with the design scheme and content of your current website, or alternatively use the opportunity to upgrade the user experience of your website as a chance to redesign and refresh your company image whilst also boosting the web presence of your organisation in a combined project.

There are two common approaches to designing mobile websites – either create an entirely separate mobile site which is mobile-optimized for Smartphones and tablets, or alternatively to redesign your main company website so that it uses a “responsive design” which is able to scale up or down to any screen size. There are several companies which use a separate mobile site, and in some instances, it is a logical approach. However, in the majority of cases, companies which have optimized their websites for mobile viewing have followed the modern standard and adopted a responsive design.

In terms of efficiency and maintenance, a single company website which is able to render correctly and scale to any device from Smartphone to desktop computer is the logical choice. While it is true that there will likely be more up-front development, over time the benefits will continue to accrue.

 Where Do I Go from Here?

When considering all of the benefits of optimizing your company website for mobile users, the priority should be focused on maximising a positive user experience, improving the ranking of your organisation on Google Search. Given the sheer abundance of information on the internet, it can become very demanding for users to become convinced of the values of a service or product, or which information or content that they are able to trust. Web users will now often use Google Street View to get a feel of a business premises before they actually visit it and build their trust in the service being offered. A recent Google study found that of prospective clients considering visiting a business, they are 130% more likely to visit if able to view the business with a 360° virtual tour. If users are provided with an enhanced experience of your products and services, your business can stand tall among competitors and improve Google search rank even further.

What are the Benefits of 360° Virtual Tour to My Business?

The main benefit of providing a 360° tour of your business is the interactive nature of the experience that you provide to your potential customers. Traditional photography and video is a passive experience, whereas a 360° tour actively involves potential customers in your business, inviting them to experience everything you have to offer at their own pace. People are generally visually-driven, and a well-designed company website which includes personal access to your business is much more likely to convert potential customers into valuable clients.

A 360° tour showcases the most important aspects of your business and provides a level of detail that other media are unable to do. In a crowded marketplace, the retention of a visitor to your website in an immersive, dynamic experience may well be the deciding factor between your business or a competitor’s. By providing an immersive 360° tour, you are ensuring that your products and services are on show any time that a potential customer visits your site, and that all of the information they need is always available. Customers can be more confident in their decision-making, and as a result, your sales will increase.