Originally published at: http://www.sitepoint.com/mobile-seo-6-steps-mobile-friendly-website/
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The telephone became commercially available around 1878, but it took 71 years before half the U.S. households had one. That gave the typical business owner in 1907 50 years to decide whether he needed one installed in his shop.
By comparison, the average business owner in 2007 had only 50 months to prepare for the sudden rise of the smartphone. That may seem like a long time; yet only 6 percent of SMBs have a mobile-friendly website—and 45 percent have no site at all.
If you find yourself on the wrong side of the mobile explosion, no worries. This article will put you on the path to a website that plays nice with mobile visitors.
Why Mobile is Now Mission-Critical
As mentioned in SEO PowerSuite’s recent guide to mobile-friendly sites, 90 percent of users switch between devices to accomplish a goal—mostly shopping. Here’s why mobile is now mission-critical.
1. Mobile has become Mainstream
In 2007, Apple launched the first iPhone. Over the next 12 months, other mobile phone manufacturers began releasing products to compete with it. Today, nearly 75 percent of mobile subscribers in the U.S. own smartphones.
That’s up from 65.2 percent in December 2013—and projected to surpass 80 percent by year end. The smartphone has become mainstream.
2. Mobile Searchers have Higher Purchase Intent
Consumers Use Smartphones to Make Purchase Decisions
Over 50 percent of mobile users reach for their smartphone to decide what to buy and where to buy it. One of the most common secondary actions after searching is a making a phone call.
In fact, mobile searchers made 30 billion inbound sales calls to U.S. businesses in 2013. And that number is growing. According to a recent report, mobile search will generate 73 billion calls to businesses by 2018. The report goes on to say:
After a decade of media adoration, clicks and impressions aren’t valued as highly as a ringing phone to businesses. Calls have become a valuable currency in a world where growing smartphone penetration pairs low funnel purchase intent with a device (the phone) that is ready to make a call.
78 Percent of Local Mobile Searches Turn into Purchases
Another study revealed that 78 percent of consumers who search for a local business on their smartphone end up making a purchase.
3. Mobile Searchers Take Action Sooner
The same study also revealed that three-fourths (76 percent) of those purchases happened the same day, and most (63 percent) within a few hours.