Businesses are behind the times when it comes to mobile optimisation
In November we wrote a blog post about the importance of mobile optimisation if, as a business, you’re looking to thrive and survive in the fast-paced marketplaces of today. The blog emphasised modern trends and the need for businesses to keep up with contemporary developments. Since that blog post we’ve undertaken research looking at the amount of businesses that have optimised their websites for mobile and tablet use.
Research has shown that Internet users are no longer using the once traditional mediums of the household PC or the laptop when it comes to a Google search and are instead opting to use their mobile smartphone or tablet as a swift and easily accessible alternative. With the hectic lifestyle of the modern world, it’s no surprise that the majority of us are using technology close to hand rather than going out of our way to wait for the PC to boot up and to look online via a desktop.
We wanted to look at this from a business perspective so conducted a study that questioned more than 300 UK based organisations as part of wider research into corporate marketing strategies (downloadable report coming soon). Respondents were drawn from a diverse mix of businesses, both B2B and B2C, which spanned multiple industry sectors. This gave us a wide and varied reflection of business practises and how they adapted to new developments.
The results of the study revealed that a third (34%) of UK businesses were yet to develop their website to make it mobile friendly, whilst astonishingly more than a sixth (17%) simply didn’t know if their website worked on a mobile device or not. The findings also suggested that only 38% of the participating companies had already undertaken measures to ensure that their website was optimised.
This figure really was a shock to us bearing in mind current market trends. If a business wants to target a modern audience then it has to consider the platform from which the audience will be accessing its site. There’s no getting away from the fact that website access is increasingly likely to be via a smartphone or tablet. Businesses, if they want to prosper, need to embrace this.
Further surprise came from results which suggested a relaxed approach to monitoring website traffic. Less than half (44%) of the businesses polled checked their website traffic stats at least once a week, whilst a more worrying 11% said that they either ‘never’ bothered to check or simply didn’t know.
This is verging on criminal in a business environment! Monitoring website traffic is a vital tool for businesses to engage with. The statistics provide a clear measurement of website performance, allowing a business to understand what aspects of its online offering works, as well as demonstrating the aspects that don’t.
Web-based marketing activity also benefits from monitoring website traffic stats, as success or failure is clearly evidenced. Based on the back of this a business will be able to appreciate which forms of marketing work best for them and adapt their strategy accordingly.
Our study has shown that many businesses are behind the times and need to get up to speed if they want to stay afloat. Not acknowledging and implementing the tools to hand is a major error and all businesses need to utilise the full arsenal at their disposal if they want to flourish in the modern age.
Ian Simpson MD of Catalogues 4 Business & Digital 4 Business
