In part two of the How to Market Your Business Online to Find More Clients, I’m going to talk about mobile-friendly websites and email marketing.

Google is now showing preference to mobile friendly and responsive websites. If Google doesn’t consider your website to be mobile friendly or responsive (even if you think it is), you may find you take a significant drop in search engine results. I’ve had some people come to me recently to have their older websites converted to meet the new standards.

In 2014, BaseKit released a report showing that 91% of small business websites are not optimized for mobile use! This year TechCrunch also found that 44% of the Fortune 500 companies failed the mobile friendly test. That’s an incredible number, especially for small businesses, but it really doesn’t surprise me. A huge percentage probably has no idea about the new Google mobile policy or that their website may not be mobile-friendly, and those who are aware may not have any idea what to do about it.

Until recently, my old (other) website was not considered to be mobile friendly, even though parts of it were responsive. It was in need of a makeover anyway, so I decided to switch over to a more modern, responsive theme. It took a bit of work because of the amount of customization I wanted, as many things couldn’t easily be transferred from the previous theme, but it was much easier than attempting to modify the code on an old, outdated theme. Not to mention the security issues that come with using an old theme that is no longer supported and updated by the developers.

I’ve had a number of people come to me lately with older websites that they want updated not only to be mobile-friendly, but to also have an updated look. It’s a lot of fun to see the transformation of some of the older sites that are… well… rather drab, dull and boring – seeing them come alive and showcasing the true personality of the business owner.

Click here to check to see if your website is responsive or mobile-friendly: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly.

Certainly, there are WordPress plugins that can be used to allow your website to appear to be mobile-friendly (and Google will see it as such), but they are not very attractive. Often, they don’t keep the branding and look of your site. It’s better than nothing, but not in your best interest from a branding and user experience perspective.

According to VisionCritical.com, mobile data traffic is accelerating at 81%. Mobile accounted for 25% of all web usage in 2014. “In short, if you’re still doing business and research only on the web (or offline), you’re missing out.”

Also, 80% of internet users own a smartphone. (Source 2015)

In 2013, 41% of small businesses were using email to market to customers, a nearly 25% jump from 2012. (Source)

iContact claims that the average return on investment in email marketing is $44.25 for every dollar spent and that consumers who receive email marketing order 28% more often.

However, Unbounce says that 79% of marketing leads never convert into sales. Lack of lead nurturing is the common cause of this poor performance and that nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads, producing, on average, a 20% increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads.

With these statistics, you definitely want to be using email marketing to communicate with your prospects. Therefore, you need an opt-in box on your website, and possibly even a dedicated landing page to send people to. But having just a box that says “Sign up for my newsletter” isn’t enough. Nobody wants more newsletters in their inbox these days. You need to entice them with an irresistible free gift. I’ll talk more about free gifts in a later segment of this Online Marketing series.

The most important thing is to get your website visitors onto your email list so you can continue to communicate with them, educate them, and offer them opportunities to work with you. Otherwise, when they leave your website they are likely lost to you forever. Chances are they will forget all about you and, when they are ready to work with someone like you, they will choose someone else who offered them a free gift in exchange for their email address, and who has been active in communicating with them on a regular basis, educating them and developing that “Know, Like and Trust Factor.”

Need help converting your WordPress website to a mobile-friendly theme or getting your opt-in box and email list set up? Schedule a Complimentary 30-minute Discovery Session with me and we’ll come up with a plan of action to get you pointed in the right direction quickly!