Yes, B2B companies, we’re talking to you specifically. We’ve noticed a prevailing thought in your industry that having a mobile friendly website isn’t necessary because “your buyers don’t search on mobile.” Modern statistics say otherwise – 29% of B2B traffic comes from mobile.
But, before we really dive into our argument, let’s define mobile friendly.
So, What is Mobile Friendly?
We’re glad you asked. Mobile friendly means that your website reacts to the size of the screen a web visitor is looking at, to give users the optimal experience. Some key components of this include: a proper responsive layout, the text is readable without having to zoom, content is sized to the screen so users don’t have to scroll horizontally, and links are spread apart for easy tapping.
You may have heard this concept explained as having a responsive website design, an adaptive design, or even a separate website just for mobile phones. While the parameters for a mobile friendly site have changed over the years, the only solution today is a responsive website. The responsive design makes it easy for users to navigate your website, no matter what device they’re using.
Debunking the Myth: Your Buyers Don’t Search on Mobile
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get back to the idea that your buyers don’t use mobile to view your website. According to a 2016 Salesforce survey, 84% of millennials, 76% of Gen X, and 60% of baby boomers reported mobile was essential for their work. In a 2015 survey of 105 buyers by the Demand Gen Report, 56% reported frequently using mobile phones to visit B2B e-commerce sites. Similarly, a 2013 survey of 500+ executives by Forbes Insight found that more than half of B2B executives are comfortable making purchases on mobile. One fourth of these executives even made a direct business purchase within the last six months from a mobile website with values between $1000 to over $10,000. In fact, 19.4% of B2B digital commerce revenue comes from mobile.
The bottom line: B2B buyers don’t just want you to have a mobile friendly site, they expect it. A Google survey found that 48% of users who visited unoptimized sites on their smartphones felt that the company didn’t care about their business, and that’s not the only pitfall. Here are a few other dangers to resisting the mobile friendly bandwagon:
1. Penalized SEO: Google recently launched its “Mobilegeddon” algorithm that penalizes websites without mobile friendly designs. Non-mobile friendly sites have since drastically dropped in the search rankings, shooting the modernized designs to the top of the organic listings. Adobe’s report found sites without mobile friendly designs experienced a 10% drop in traffic and a 35% decrease in visibility because of the update.
2. Hurt Reputation: As said by Warren Buffet: “It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” Your mobile website is an extension of your brand. If the mobile version is difficult to navigate with badly formatted content, users are going to associate that outdated, arduous experience with your business, and your reputation is going to suffer. In line with this notion, an international survey this month found 60% of consumers to be less loyal to brands after a poor website experience.
3. Lost Sales: It’s more work to make a purchase on a non-mobile friendly website. Users simply don’t want to go through the effort of trying to navigate an unoptimized site — and the statistics prove it. In Forbes’ article “Google Research: No Mobile Site = Lost Customers,” the writer points out that visitors are 67% more likely to make a purchase from a mobile friendly site. Accordingly, a study of B2B companies that made the switch to a responsive website showed an 11% drop in bounce rates (on average), meaning users were staying on their sites, longer. Without a mobile friendly design, users aren’t staying on your website long enough to convert.
Hopefully, the data spoke for itself, but statistics aside, any marketing professional will tell you to go mobile friendly – B2B, B2C, or otherwise. Mobile is the future, and the sooner you get on board, the more successful your company will be. We’ll just put one more statistic here to back us up on that: 78% of B2B companies see mobile as the future of online commerce (As per a 2014 Infographic by Usablenet). Don’t get left behind – go mobile friendly before your business declines.
Not sure where to start? Shoot us an email at sales@web-kare.com. We’re happy to build you a professional design that adapts to every screen size.