Is your business ready for the explosion in mobile search?

By Ian Bowen-Morris, Chief Marketing Officer, Telnames

The explosion in mobile search means today’s small businesses need a mobile-ready website that gets indexed in search engines and displays perfectly on smartphones. If you’re not online with a mobile friendly website that’s easy to navigate and contains all your essential click-to-contact information then potential customers are losing patience – and you’re losing sales.

Chances are you’ve got a smartphone and you’ve probably used it to find directions, look up train times, or Google the phone number of a local taxi firm. Chances are your customers are doing something similar every day.

In today’s connected world people have become used to searching for the services they need online using their mobile phones. According to Google 95% of smartphone users regularly search for local services and businesses online, with one-in-five making an instant phone call and 68% calling or visiting a business within one hour.

But 61% of these online seekers also confirmed that if they couldn’t find the basic information they were looking for right away, they’d quickly move on to another site. All of which highlights a growing issue for small businesses.

With more and more people using their phones to search for goods and services online, getting a mobile friendly website that clearly displays key information in one easy-to-view location is becoming a ‘must have’.

Be visible, be mobile friendly

Shockingly, Google’s research reveals that less than 10% of small businesses currently have a mobile website and as a result are missing out on a major opportunity to grow their business.

So what’s the problem? Well, for many small companies and local businesses, it’s all about time, effort, cost and perception. Because many SMEs think you need a heavyweight site with multiple pages that’s complicated to build and a hassle to maintain.

But the mobile user has very specific needs in relation to information and content – they’re on the move and only want the essentials to help decide if this is the right service provider for their needs.

Which means it’s probably enough to ‘mobilise’ your ‘contact us’ or ‘about us’ page of your traditional website (if you have one), and feature other relevant information such as your opening hours, location, price list, or a promotional special offer.

Create an instant online presence with Telnames

That’s exactly what a new mobile website generator service from Telnames makes possible. In just under 15 minutes you can create a mobile friendly Telnames .tel site that displays perfectly on smartphones, contains all your essential ‘click-to-contact’ information, and features links to your traditional website and social media.

Everything is included – a top level domain name to get found in search, a smart page where you can upload all your contact information, a business profile and hosting – for an initial annual fee of just £14.95 (normal price £24.95 per year).

Telnames makes it easy for small businesses to take advantage of the surge in online mobile search and turn browsers into buyers.

Don’t miss out, secure a Telname for your business today. For some great examples of how independent businesses around the UK are using the Telnames service, why not visit http://www.telnames.com.