A lot of people think that mobile users are not that important. However, what not everyone has realized is that mobile devices are as present in homes and businesses as computers. And that makes it essential that your website works well on these small devices. But why optimize a mobile site? Know the main reasons.

The fact is, if you’re not optimizing for mobile devices, you end up losing sales. Research shows that 53% of mobile users abandon sites if they take more than 3 seconds to load. And if these people aren’t able to access your site, they’re certainly not connecting with your company and not generating business.

Considering the importance of a website for any company, especially the smaller ones, it seems natural to take extra care to ensure that it is mobile-friendly. And it’s amazing how many sites are not yet optimized to provide a good mobile experience.

Why optimize a mobile site ? 

1. Mobile users are different:

Mobile users have different goals and behaviors than desktop users. Mobile users often make more impulse purchases and end up spending more money than desktop users, for example. But for that, they also need accessible and fast information.

This underscores the importance of optimizing your mobile experience to match the visitor’s needs and behaviors in the context of how they are likely to be navigating your site. By making the path to shopping or searching simpler and more intuitive, you will align more closely with mobile users.

2. Mobile users generate traffic:

In January 2019, mobile devices accounted for 55% of web page views worldwide, making mobile sites as important as their desktop versions. After all, nearly half of a site’s traffic can be coming from mobile devices.

Google has made it clear since 2013, with the Hummingbird update, that the future of search is mobile and sites that don’t adapt to mobile devices would see their search rankings drop, which actually happened. After that, all the updates to the Google algorithm only reinforced that. And that’s just one more reason to optimize a mobile site.

3. Better brand engagement:

people interact more with brands when they offer a satisfying mobile experience, making it more likely that they will return later via the desktop. After all, 90% of people report using multiple devices to complete a task. When a mobile experience is optimized, offering functionality and consistency, it promotes user trust and affinity.

On the other hand, if a mobile site has complicated navigation, users are more likely to stay on the device and visit a competitor than to search for a desktop. If you can’t provide what a user needs when they need it, they miss out on sales opportunities and risk permanently losing a customer to a competitor.

4. Increased conversions:

Sites where mobile browsing is ineffective convert less. Calls to action often get obscured, links are hard to click and the contact page ends up disappearing from the menu. Mobile shoppers have little patience for complicated websites and many abandon the transaction if the site is not optimized for mobile devices.

To get the most out of a mobile site, calls to action must be clear and easy to click and contact information must be one of the first things visitors see. 80% of shoppers admit that many mobile purchases are impulse purchases and that they are more likely to buy and interact with a brand that offers a more engaging experience.

5. Reduces your bounce rate:

Even if content looks great on the desktop, it can be unreadable on a mobile device. Visitors won’t stay on your site if they have to zoom in or out all the time. The situation can be even more desperate if the site runs on flash or another platform that requires add-ons.

If your site is not professionally optimized for mobile devices, your bounce rate will be extremely high. By providing mobile visitors with a proper and intuitive user experience, you’ll obviously involve them for longer and can even make them make a purchase.