Businesses must be mobile friendly

Recent research from ING DIRECT has shown that 43% of Australians use their mobile phones for shopping, as the use of cash declines. Clothes top the list for mobile phone shopping, followed by electronics and music. It would appear essential nowadays for most businesses to have a website that is mobile friendly.

What do we buy online?

According to the ING DIRECT research, the top five categories for mobile phone shopping in Australia are:

Clothes (22%)
Electronics (20%)
Music (18%)
Groceries (17%)
Games (16%)

John Arnott, Executive Director, Customers, ING DIRECT, said: “Online shopping has grown in popularity over the past few years, offering ease and convenience for busy Australians, and it is increasingly moving to the palm of our hand through our mobiles. As the use of cash declines further and mobile payment apps become increasingly familiar, we can expect to see even more mobile shopping.”

“It is crucial for websites to have mobile friendly sites but not crucial to have an App,” said Mr Arnott. He offered the following two points as reference:

Customers expect a site to be optimised for the mobile and are likely to leave a site within a few seconds on arriving if it isn?t. Who likes trying to zoom in on text that is too small or trying to tap on links that are too close together?
Google has updated its search algorithms to favour mobile-friendly websites, and businesses that don?t have a mobile friendly site will not be ranked as highly in search results.

How to make a website mobile friendly?

According to a Sensis study of 1,800 Australian small and medium business owners, only one-quarter (26%) of businesses have a mobile-friendly website. Reassuringly though, more than 95% of Australian businesses are online compared to 23% in 1997 – they just need to get mobile savvy!

The industry with the highest number of mobile-optimised websites was the accommodation, cafes and restaurant sector at 87%.

So how do you improve your site?s friendliness? Head to Google of course! Google has a great Mobile Guide to help you out.