72% of people in the US have a smartphone.
And the numbers are climbing, not only in the US, but all over the world.
Many have smartphones and we really use them. The average time spent on a smartphone, while not talking, is about three hours per day.
That’s just an average. Some of us ::slowly raising my hand:: spend more time than that on our phones browsing the Web, checking apps and messing around.
Because people spend so much time on their phones it’s important to know how to increase traffic to your business website. There are similarities to getting traffic from computers, but there are also a few nuances.
Here are some tips for getting people on their smartphones to visit your website.
Tip #1. Create Ongoing Content
One of the main reasons we use our smartphones so much is to stay connected. The feeling of being connected to people and to information is very powerful.
People are searching and subscribing to all kinds of information or content with their phones. Just this morning I opened my phone to check for new videos from channels I subscribed to on YouTube. Then I opened the Podcasts app to see what new episodes had been released. Then I opened Twitter and checked for updates. Then I opened my email and had a few updates of new content.
A few of the things we’ll talk about in a bit have to do with how you deliver content, but the base of a good mobile traffic strategy, of any traffic strategy, is creating your own content.
If you think about your customer…what reason do they have to come to your website?
You have a service or product that can help them, but we’re only in “buying mode” about 3% of the time. The other 97% of the time is for other information. You can make yourself more valuable to your customers more often by creating content.
Tip #2. Optimize Your Website For Mobile, Remove Clutter, Make It Fast
This is an obvious one, but I still visit websites that publish content, but that aren’t optimized for mobile.
It’s frustrating.
You’ve probably been on a website like that before. You bring up the article and you have to readjust with your fingers. Then when you scroll things move side to side. And the words can be incredibly small.
The content has to be really good for me to stay on a site like that.
With so many people using their smartphones today it’s really not an option to have a responsive website.
I also suggest removing clutter from your site. The screen on a smartphone is obviously smaller than a laptop so there isn’t as much room for things like ads, email signups, links, photos and all that other stuff.
With a mobile design you really need to focus on the top priorities on each page.
That will help your website to load fast on mobile devices and that is incredibly important. You have to make sure you have a good host too and sound code so that the page loads fast because not every mobile connection is a strong one.
Tip #3. Share On Social Media
Earlier I mentioned that I check Twitter to see what new content is available. Twitter is one of my top places for new content. It is for many others as well, but the other social channels are just as important and some are more popular.
Some of the top social users share content and they share it often. And they re-share their content. It depends on the situation and the channel, but it makes sense to re-share content on Twitter. I know that I don’t see all the content shared on my timeline so I appreciate when someone I follow re-shares an important article or podcast episode. And if I have seen the update before I just glance over it and move on.
Social media is one of the major ways that people use their smartphones. When you want to get people’s attention (and their traffic) you have to go where they are and that’s social media.
Schedule the time to share on social media. It’s important if you want to get traffic. It’s not a nice-to-have marketing strategy anymore.
Tip #4. Regular Emailing
Along with social media is regular emailing. It’s still very important. 53% of email is now opened on mobile devices. Email may be more important than ever. It’s vital to have an email program as a way to share your content just like it’s important to have a social media strategy.
Start with automated content sharing. Share your latest posts, videos, podcasts automatically with subscribers. Then supplement with monthly newsletters and if things start gaining traction then move to weekly and possibly even daily.
If you have a really good email program then people won’t be able to get enough.
Tip #5. SMS Programs
Finally, SMS programs are gaining traction. Smartphone technology is getting crazy. It seems possible right now or in the near future for local businesses to communicate with smartphone subscribers via SMS or text. And it’s not just your normal communication.
A very real situation in the future could be for a restaurant to send automated messages to people that are subscribed when they walk within a certain distance of a restaurant.
Let’s say a customer eats at a restaurant. They opt-in to SMS updates. They are walking near the restaurant shopping on a Saturday morning and they get a text with a link to the day’s lunch specials.
That will get website traffic and possibly business from the subscriber.
Conclusion
People are using their phones more than ever. Before writing this post I didn’t realize that more email is opened on phones than on other computing devices. But I guess I can totally see that.
Some things are the same when it comes to mobile traffic and regular computer traffic, but there are a few nuances. Implement the strategies above and you’ll be in good shape for getting mobile traffic to your business website.