According to Pew Internet, 58% of people have researched a service or product online. Of these people, over 60% of online searchers claim that they consider local search results to be more relevant, while 58% consider local search results to be more trustworthy. Understandably, 61% of customers who visit a mobile unfriendly site are likely to get frustrated enough to abandon that site and go to a competitor?s site.
Unique localized page content (for example, reviews, directions to the store or service, or city-specific user-generated content) is a great way to increase Google ranking. For small businesses, optimizing your website for mobile use is one of the smartest moves you can make to boost your local SEO effectivity. Of course, this requires hiring a professional website designer who is aware of SEO as well as the different areas of web design including web graphic design, interface design, authoring, (including standardized code and proprietary software), and user experience design.
A professional website designer is trained in website design, search engine marketing, keyword rankings, how to improve website traffic, and how to create mobile friendly websites. Responsive web design provides an optimal viewing experience, including easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling, across a wide range of devices. It has been shown that tablet owners are the most active local searchers, with 64% indicating at least weekly use for local searches.
Ongoing and timely blogging can be a way for small, local businesses to boost user interaction as well as to rank highly within Google’s algorithms. Approximately half of all mobile phone users in the United States have a smartphone. Apple has sold 85 million iPhones in the U.S. since the device’s 2007 launch. Additionally, over 34 million iPads have been sold in the United States since 2010. It is important that a professional website designer format the information for small businesses so information and blogs can be seen on various high tech devices.
It is imperative that web designers use relevant ads since 84% of people in the 25-34 year old demographic say that they have left a favorite website because of intrusive or irrelevant advertising. Small businesses admit that 57% of their customers have been acquired through their company blog. It has been found that 82% of consumers use internet search engines to find out information about local small businesses. This proves that content marketing is very important for small business owners.
Savvy business owners hire a professional website designer who can suggest ways to improve website performance for them. It is obvious that responsive web design represents a fundamental shift in how we’ll build websites for the decade to come.