3 Reasons Why You Need To Be A "Mobile First" Business

Mobile is huge!  And this really understates the magnitude and scale of growth in mobile.  Within every demographic - from 8 year olds to 80 year olds - the shift to mobile is unprecedented.  As such, if you are a business owner or manager, I believe RIGHT NOW is the time to start asking the question "how can I become a mobile first business!".

But first, what exactly does being a "mobile first" business really mean?  

It starts with a mindset shift!  A mobile first business is one that realizes the majority of their customers (future and current) are engaging content on mobile devices more than any other platform, screen, or medium.

So if you've been wondering if your business should start adopting a "mobile first" strategy, here's 3 great reasons to confirm those convictions:

Reason #1 - Mobile Is Now The First Screen

In November 2014, Bloomberg shared a chart showing the time spent on mobile phones vs. time spent watching TV.  And in Q3 2014, mobile devices finally surpassed TV to become the "first screen", and TV is now the "second screen".

Reason #2:  More People Are Searching On Their Mobile Phones Than Computers

Back in March 2014, Google engineer Matt Cutts was speaking at SMX West and said that he “wouldn't be surprised” if mobile search exceeded desktop queries this year (referring to 2014).  And earlier last year, another speaker from Google made similar comments while speaking at the International Franchising Association.

Mobile search is arguably the most common way local / metro area customers find local products and services.  Knowing this, local businesses need to have a Google local business page ranking at the top of the local search results.  This will connect you with more leads and drive more business.

In my business here at Bipper Media, this year was the first time I've ever had a client tell me "I don't care about ranking in the organic search results... the only thing that matters is the local search results".  

What he meant was, the only thing that mattered to his business getting new customers was being found at the top of the local search / Google maps search results (the letter A thru G search results you see on the front page of Google for local search queries), and that ranking in the normal organic search results had no impact on his phone ringing.

On mobile phones, Google will present a "tap to call" button for your Google business page right in the search results.  So in essence, people don't even need to tap thru to your website anymore - they can simply tap the call button and your phone is ringing.

Here's a chart showing the trends in mobile search vs. searches made on a desktop computer:

Reason #3:  Google's "Mobile Friendly" Algorithm Update

If Google is adopting a "mobile first" mindset, that alone should be enough for every business large and small to follow suit.  More specifically though, this week Google updated their mobile search algorithm to favor websites that were mobile friendly.  This means, if your website adapts and conforms to a mobile screen, Google will give you some extra juice in the search results, helping you to rank higher and drive more traffic.

The other way to look at it is if your website is not mobile friendly, then your website may be penalized and drop in the mobile search rankings.  Some people will certainly opt to ignore the PR from Google on this update, but in my opinion that's a risky wager.  I have clients, such as law firms and dental practices, that have increasingly become more dependant on traffic from Google.  This becomes even more of a reality once they start ranking at the top of Google and see the impact it has on their business.

** You may also like to read:  10 Things You Need To Know About Google's Mobile Algorithm Update 

All of the above points to the increasing relevance of mobile devices and mobile search for a business.

Let me close with one more influential company that's shifting to a "mobile first" mindset - Facebook.  And hopefully this will help you decide whether or not you should be making the "mobile first" shift in your own business.

We all know, in general at least, that Facebook is extremely popular.  But one thing you might not realize is how important mobile is to Facebook.  During an earnings call yesterday (Wednesday, April 22nd), Facebook made some key points as to the influence that mobile has on their business.  Here's two key bullet points from that call:

• Mobile advertising revenue represented roughly 73% of advertising revenue.
• There were 1.44 billion monthly active users versus analyst expectations of 1.43 billion. Mobile monthly users total 1.25 billion, up 24% year over year.

And just look at a couple of Facebook's most recent acquisitions such as Instagram and WhatsApp.  Facebook purchased Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion.  Which looking back now at the popularity of Instagram, I'd say Facebook got one heck of deal.  And then there's WhatsApp, which Facebook spent a whopping $19 billion to acquire last year.

Most importantly to the point of this article, both apps (Instagram & WhatsApp) are "mobile first" apps.

One of the key growth segments in mobile is video.  Video content is seen as the future of mobile engagement.  And as such, companies like Facebook and Google are shifting a lot of their development resources into mobile video.  You can see the emphasis on video in mobile apps like Instagram and Twitter who now integrate video production and sharing directly in their streams.

In summary, whether you are a local business (law firm, dentist, carpet cleaner, etc...), or a global enterprise company, mobile is where your customers are, and it's where they searching for your products and services.  And considering the "mobile first" mindset shift in major tech companies like Google and Facebook, this is a pretty good indication that we (you and I) should consider doing the same.

I hope this article gets you thinking about ways your business can start making the shift to becoming a "mobile first" business.  In future articles, I'll be sharing more specifically on how you can start becoming a more "mobile first" business.  So definitely stay tuned...

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Written by Bobby Holland, Founder at Bipper Media

Bipper Media:  Create. Connect. Convert.