Business owners have known for years that they needed a listing in the phone book so that people could find them. They paid a lot of money for the ads believing it brought them business because people regularly used the phone book.
Today’s leaders have to decide whether to continue paying for phone book ads, as well as paying to create and maintain their website. Part of that decision is their belief about how many people use the phone directory, and how many people use web search engines such as Google or Yahoo.
It is not easy to find out how many people still use the phone book to find businesses, but we can consider our own behavior and that of families and friends as a guide. In my case, we haven’t kept a telephone book in years, even though they are delivered several times a year. We always recycle them immediately because they are too slow to use. I have heard others say the same thing, so I believe the use of them phone books is low. As for search engines, I probably do at least 2-3 every day and some days do many more. Is your experience similar?
It is much easier to measure traffic that comes from internet search engines, and even to divide it up by desktop computers and mobile devices. There are several reliable analytic packages available that can be added to a website to get the information, as well as a lot of completed research you can use today. Mobile users are clearly strong in this area. According to a 2012 Google study, 92% of smart phone users use internet search engines to find local businesses, and 89% of them have taken action after finding a local source of what they are seeking. For other types of ads, phone tracking software can show you exactly who is calling you from any particular source. There are a lot of tools to help you.
If you doubt the value of continuing your phone book ad, we can help you make the decision. By adding the right analytics tools to your website, you can get the data you need.
Computer sales have been decreasing for the last 4 quarters, while sales of mobile devices (smart phones, tablets, ipads, etc.) have been skyrocketing. Know what that means? It means that many more people are going to be looking for mobile friendly websites.
Your website can be viewed on a smartphone, but that doesn’t make it mobile-friendly. I come across lots of web pages that fit on my 3 inch phone screen, but I would have to zoom in with my fingers to see the data. If I can’t click on your phone number to dial it, or easily see a map to visit your office, I’m just not going to call you. Unless you are the only source for what I need, I’ll go to someone easier to contact. How many potential customers like me are you losing this week?
This information published by DemandForce in partnership with Column Five.
During the last six months of 2012, 41% of all email was read on mobile devices, which equates to hundreds of billions of emails. The information came from a report published by Knotice, of Akron OH.
This means that people are opening the messages on the go, which is sooner than if they only read them at their desk, but it also could result in negative effects for the sender. If your email has a link to your website but your site is not mobile ready, they are likely to be annoyed and get a negative impression of your brand.
Can you afford to lose that many people trying to get your information on their mobile device?
Make sure that every ad you run and every email you send will take viewers to a good web experience regardless of what device they are using. A smart site is programmed to recognize the device before it sees the page, and to send the best display for that device. With billions of mobile users in the world, you can’t afford not to have one!
Call us today and let us create one for you! http://provim.net/mobile/
(317) 299-5150
“Don’t penalize users for visiting your site on smaller devices.” — Brad Frost, Responsive web leader and publisher