How Many Small Business Websites Are Not Mobile Friendly?

A recent report released from a company BaseKit surveyed over 500 Small Businesses and a shocking 91% said their websites are not optimized for mobile users. This report covered a poll of small and medium sized businesses and questioned them about a variety of technology related topics, including the functionality of their website and more.

Out of this poll, only 2/3 said they managed and updated their websites & 2/3 of those business owners used social media to help with online marketing.

There is a missing gap between business owners & consumers. More customers than ever before are accessing the web via Mobile Phones & Tablets. 

Slowly but surely, small businesses are starting to understand the magnitude of this mobile movement and are picking up on this optimized trend. Recent numbers are showing that 50% of new traffic to the web comes from smartphones. We can also back this with a client of ours, read this article to see the mobile traffic numbers from their Google Analytics report.

There is no doubt in our mind that mobile is not just a movement, but it is a lifestyle shift. Users are unplugging from the wall of tangled cords into freely roaming the streets on mobile devices, accessing apps & the web. It does not take detailed reports to see the trend, just look around at all of the people who own smartphones & tablets. Mobile is here and it is here to stay for quite some time. There is still huge opportunity for the early adopter business owners to get mobile and gain competitive advantage over their slowly advancing competitors.

But for those business owners ready, contact Grand Apps today to learn how we can help!

Mobile App Tip | One Touch Contact

We have another great mobile app tip for you today, regarding mobile app marketing. In case you missed our latest video about this, CLICK HERE to watch it. But if you prefer reading over watching, we still have you covered. 

This app feature is utilized by many of our clients, yet highly overlooked. So if you are using this feature then this article may be a bit of a refresher for you and for all of you not using Grand Apps yet, this is a must read. 

One Touch Contact

This app feature works by hosting all of your useful contact information into on button or one touch. 

As you see above the image of the mobile device, users can click the contact or info button and be directed to a page in your app that looks like this. This feature will hold your GPS Directions, ability to call your business, ability to visit your website & even send your business an email. Seems pretty basic, right? Well let's cover why this feature beats mobile web. 

Mobile Web

When users want to search a business or go to your business because maybe they forgot a service / menu item. Maybe they want to call you for hours tonight or possibly just see if you have any specials going on. The second they decide to do this, they will go to their mobile smartphones Internet and launch it. Depending on their network, they will have to let it load up and wait a few seconds. After this huge hassle they will then have to type your businesses name in the search box, if your business has a longer name then that means the more time to type to search. After they are done typing in the search box they must then browse to make sure they have the right business they were searching for. 

After minutes have passed by they will finally be on a search page with your business listings. Don't get us wrong, mobile web browsing is awesome and if you have Google Places registered, then your business listings are right there and in front of the user. But, if you don't have Google Places registered then they must visit your website to gather this information. Sometimes businesses do not even have an optimized website for users to browse over. What do we mean by an optimized website you might ask? Put it this way, if you have to pinch and zoom around the website to find information like finding Waldo in your children's books, then your website is probably not optimized at all. 

Now our user has finally landed on your website, after minutes, and wants to get a hold of you. Is your number displayed in an easy to find format? Is there a way for them to contact you via email if they choose? This part will be up to your web team, but chances are if your site is not optimized it will be harder than easier to find. This might sound like they user is simply lazy because they actually have to do some work and spend a few extra minutes. But you must remember that in today's fast paced world, people want things "now,now & now"...which is why fast food restaurants are so popular, it's all about convenience. So why might a mobile app be better for your users to get ahold of you? 

Mobile App

This brings us to the conclusion of a mobile app and how powerful this small, simple feature can be. Imagine that your customer wants to find your business, call you, view your website or view specials as we mentioned in the above scenario. Now picture this, they simple go to your app, open it, click info/contact & there it is. This will literally take seconds, not minutes. And if we can agree that today's world for most people is about convenience then this would conclude the One Touch Contact feature is very powerful. This feature is overlooked or taken for granted by many, but seriously it's a charm. 

As we mentioned, most of the businesses using our platform already have added this feature but we wanted to reinforce to you that it is working wonderfully for getting your information out there QUICK to the people. If you have not already gone Grand Apps yet, begin thinking about it. In 2013, smartphone imports / exports actually surpassed dumbphones, meaning the mobile revolution has begin and will be in full swing in 2014. 

As always, if you loved this article and found it useful, please Google +1 us!  Thanks for the read & share. 

Is Your Business Invisible?

My business does not need a mobile app or any kind of mobile marketing strategy, we're set. We have a decent website with a fairly good Google rank, so...no thanks.

Surprisingly, business owners have this mindset. But what if we told you that your business might actually be invisible. About 31% of consumers are primarily using mobile for searches. This means if your business is not mobile friendly or you do not have a mobile strategy, these consumers will turn back the instant they see your website is not mobile friendly. Nobody likes to pinch & zoom to find useful information in their fast paced on the go lifestyle. People will actually turn to competition that is mobile friendly.

What do we mean by mobile friendly?

-Mobile Apps for businesses
-Mobile websites for business
-Mobile advertising for businesses

These mobile strategies cannot be ignored anymore. More people are using mobile apps & mobile searches to seek out the knowledge they want and need. Mobile is one of the fastest growing markets and great news, it is not that expensive.

We have talked with business owners that said they paid over $10,000 for a new website. (that website was not even mobile optimized). No offense, but that business owner could have invested in a mobile app, mobile website and some paid mobile advertisements for this price, through Grand Apps of course. 

Our software & development is hassle free and very inexpensive. We are helping business owners get mobile in weeks. We have built over 40+ mobile apps for businesses and want to help you out. Shoot us an email to get started today!

support@grandapps.com

So Your Business Is Shopping For Mobile Apps?

So after reading many of our articles about the mobile marketing movement in small business, yours is finally ready to pull the trigger on a mobile campaign. But you are now left with another decision, who to choose? Of course we want you to choose Grand Apps as your mobile app, website & mobile website provider but even if you don't we wanted to help guide you in the right direction.

Tip One - Credibility

As you already know, being credible in business is key to building a successful long term relationship. You want to make sure the company you choose has a strong dependable track record. Here are some questions you can ask the company you are seeking out to get you going on mobile marketing.

- How many mobile apps have you currently developed?
- How many businesses have you worked with?
- How many businesses in our industry have you worked with?
- Do you have any recommendations, news articles or publications about your company?

These questions can gauge the level of expertise that company has in mobile development & mobile marketing.

Tip Two - ROI

This is probably all you really care about as a business owner...the Return On Investment. Many people will not care if the company only has developed 10 mobile apps, but if it shows an ROI then your business is in. Make sure you check to see if the app has increased traffic to that business.

- Has your mobile marketing (mobile apps) increased foot traffic to businesses?
- Do you have solid numbers proving you increased that business with a mobile app?

These two questions alone are powerful enough to make a decision. If the businesses mobile app & mobile marketing strategies have actually increased traffic, people are using it and there are solid sales with a mobile app then that is really all you would need to invest in mobile.

Tip Three - Development Time / Implementation Time

You can't buy time, even with trillions of dollars. We understand that and want to help you out with this. The world has become so fast paced with technology that business works 24/7 with no sleep. So it is crucial that you gain a competitive advantage before your competition. This is done by showing up to the party first aka going mobile first. So, make sure you ask your potential developers this.

- How long until my app is live in iTunes & Google Play, ready to download and start marketing?
- How much time will it take to make changes to my mobile app?
- Any other time constraints I should know about in development?

These questions will help every business owner gauge how fast this app developer can work. Some are faster than other and some are slower than others. Just make sure their time of development fits your marketing efforts internally.

Tip Four - Is it affordable? 

You are a small business owner with limited capital in any investment, we understand this. But still many other developers or companies do not. We have worked with many small businesses with large budgets & very small budgets. This is your ultimate determining factor...can you afford it? So we recommend asking these questions to the potential company you will be working with?

- How much is it?
- Will you work with me?

Don't be shy as a business owner to tell the truth and try to work out a payment plan. That company should be open & willing to work with you. We believe they would if they truly understood small businesses and how they work.



Summary

So we have concluded four key tips for shopping around for companies that will help you kick start your mobile marketing efforts.

- Are they credible?
- Is there proven ROI or ROI Features?
- Implementation Time?
- What is the investment?

These might be basic, but still many people forget asking these basic questions. If you want to find out our answers for each of these questions to see if we live up to the standard, simply email our support team at support@grandapps.com.

Thank you all for reading & we look forward to working with your company soon.

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3 Tips for Business Owners & Mobile Apps

3 Tips for Business Owners & Mobile Apps

So your business has finally caught on that mobile marketing is here to stay and you're now considering a mobile app for your business. You are probably like most small business owners and have no idea where to start. Here are 3 tips that will get you going in the right direction.

1)  Target Customers - Who are they?

2) Target Customers Expectations - What do they expect in your mobile app?

3) Your Businesses App - Real Expectations. 

Every single business is unique in it's own way and we understand that. Your businesses app should have a few features that really emphasize your business. For example, your business serves change all the time and consumers demand to know when and what those changes are. One great feature for this would be Push Notifications. You can inform the customers on the fly those changes to your unique business with your mobile app. 

Target Customers - Who are they? 

It is important that you drill down to majority of the customers you are serving. Every business should have a customer profile of that target customer. 

For Example: 

• 25-30 Years Old
• Males
• Yearly Income Average: $30,000

Even if you cannot get very specific, it is important that you get something down. Just by knowing this information we look at mobile data and pair this profile with statistics. These males are twice as likely to download a mobile app, they are young so they most likely have a smartphone. Again, just by drilling down these key profiles you can already assume a mobile app would be a great fit for this young target consumer.

Target Customers - What do they expect in your mobile app? 

Today there are millions of mobile apps that have a huge variety of app features. But usually simple is best. This second question ties in with question one. You must know what type of customer you are serving with your mobile app. If you own a prom dress show, then you probably want a nice beautiful gallery of dresses for your app users to browse through. On the other hand, if you are a lawyer, having a gallery might not be the most important and you can already assume your clients do not care about pictures in your office. Instead offer them an app feature that allows them to contact their attorney with one touch calling, that would be a great feature.

Sometimes you may not have a clue as to what features your users will utilize. This is where it gets even better! Our app platform allows you to track progress throughout the mobile app. You can see where users are clicking on what tab features. So if there is a feature in your app that is not being used, simply delete it in your management platform.

Your Businesses App - Real Expectations

Maybe your customer wants a live feed from your store to see how busy it is and if they want to come in now to shop. That feature sounds great but have you thought about the cost? You would need live camera feeds from your store, custom app development (From Grand Apps of course) and many other factors to go into this where it might take half a year to get it up and running.

Marketing strategies are changing faster and faster with the exponential growth of technology. Also, you need a variety of app features that users want and a mobile app you can manage. You probably want to stay ahead of the marketing game and get going on your app right away.

Grand Apps provides many useful features at a very cost effective price. We can have your app live in iTunes and Android with a marketing plan ready in just 30 days. (You knew we had to add this)



But really...

Mobile is here to stay. Mobile will be here for years and getting your mobile marketing strategies figured out first, before your competition even thinks about mobile, will put you 5 steps ahead of them. We have over 30+ app features built for businesses like yours. If you want to learn more simply email

support@grandapps.com

and ask for our PDF with app features. Thanks for the read!