Your Small Business Needs A Mobile Website in 2012

As Millions of your potential customers purchase iPhones, iPads, and Android-based devices in 2011, you will be hind the curve if you have not created a mobile version of your small business website in 2012. 

Go ahead.  Check yourself out.  Use your Iphone or Android phone and see what your website looks like on the phone.  Probably not that great or usable, and the navigation is probably impossible to use.  Google is now providing device information in the analytics.  We checked on one of our restaurant clients and 25% of all traffic to their website was coming from mobile devices.  We checked a bike shop and 15% was mobile.  Mostly iPad and iPhone, but plenty of Android, too.

So, you and I need to make our websites look pretty and useful on this fast growing way to communicate and advertise.  And there are things about the reasons for using a phone that need to be updated as well.  For instance, having an autodial feature on page one. 

The cost will vary depending on who does the work and how complex the work turns out to be, but we should be able to deliver a conversion for under $1000 in most cases.

2012 To Do List for Small Business SEO, SEM, and Traditional Marketing

If you are a small business, marketing has become more critical than ever.  As more and more brick and mortar sales go to the internet, Search Engine Optimization based on local business approaches, Search Engine Marketing for small business, and traditional small business marketing techniques must all be employed to reach your customers.

It is a normal human condition to wait until the last minute to do things.  I certainly fall into the normal range in that regard.  But, at least for 2011 I am turning over a new leaf in that department.  Here is a list of goals for 2012 that I will apply to my business, and that very likely apply to every one of your businesses.  Over the next 30 days, these will be detailed out at on this blog.  Be sure to subscribe or set up a feed so you don't forget to see the rest of the story.

While our marketing company, Randy Kirk and Associates does not generally take on project based work we are going to make an exception for two types of products over the next 90 days.  It is so critical for most of you that you have Mobile Websites and Mobile Apps, that we are going to take those projects.  The balance of the items on the list are all things that we do, but are only offered as part of an ongoing retainer.

As always we are offering free DIY advice for all these elements on this blog.  Please help yourself. 

For almost all of us, excellent execution on even a portion of this list would result in a 20% increase in sales or more. 

1.  Mobile website   appx   $700
2.  Mobile Ap            appx   $750 plus $70 a month
3.  Add Google Plus Page and Google+ to all online resources
4.  50 online videos
5.  Double email list - Send out 12 - 48 emails
6.  10 blog post per month.  Videos will create most of those
7.  Mobile blog
8.  Reputation management
9.  Maintain or improve rank of primary website and Google Places
10.  Use push notification on text list and Apps
11.  Improve Customer Service
12.  Add a profit center
13.  Improve margins
14.  Improve closing ratio
15.  Continue to increase activity on all Social Media
16.  Continuous effort on back links to websites and videos

Game Changers - Siri, iPhone4S, Apps

In 1994, I read about the coming internet and told my business partner that we would want to get a website for our company as soon as they were available.  It was clear that the world wide web was going to change the way we did business. 

We may be on the verge of another such moment in history.  Some companies will take advantage of an opportunity to be on the cutting edge of this new way to be engaged with current and potential clients.  Others will wait to see if it really is the next best thing. 

Let's lay the groundwork.  Is there any doubt that IPads, IPhones, and Androids are going to be more important for search than desk tops and laptops?  Mobile devices are now the constant companion of a huge percentage of the population and the numbers are increasing exponentially by the day.  Siri and other voice recognition administrative assistants will complete the transition.  One week using my new iPhone 4s has made it clear to me that we are in a new era.

If you are going to communicate with your existing clients and reach out to new clients, it is going to be through mobile devices.  And the tool will not be your website in mobile mode.  It will be another Steve Jobs invention…the mobile app.

Until now, the mobile app has been generally used for fast ways to access content like the stock market or the weather, to play games, or to do calculations.  But by combining GPS, telephone, text, and voice commands, the mobile app provides amazing new functionality in the way companies and their clients will work together. 

You can create your own mobile app using various free or inexpensive online tools, and it may even be possible for you to get those apps approved by Apple and Google for inclusion in their app stores.  We have now added this capability to our business tool kit in case you'd rather not learn a new trade.