Is your website mobile-friendly?

I’m sure you’ve spent many hours viewing and reviewing the content on your site, making sure it accurately reflects your practice’s philosophy, services, and goals. But have you ever looked at it with your typical patient in mind? How would they view your website? Would they find it informative and useful? And most importantly, would it lead them to action?

In my last post, I discussed the importance of a mobile website. One major point I shared was that mobile internet will take over desktop internet usage by 2014. That means your typical patient will likely be accessing your website on a mobile device. Not only that, but if they have a favorable experience they are highly likely to take action. According to a study by Google, 73% of mobile searches trigger additional actions & conversions, such as further research, visited a website, shared information, visited a business, made a purchase, or called a business.

This is where Operation Undercover Dentist comes in. Undercover identity – your typical patient “on the go”. Purpose – determine the effectiveness and usability of your website on mobile devices. Go ahead – pull out your smartphones and tablets and get started! As you experience your website this way, there are a few key things you’ll want to take note.

Speed and Convenience

Your patients are visiting your website on a mobile device for speed and convenience. To quote a couple of participants in the Google study:

“Searching on a mobile device is quicker, easier, and I can do it anywhere.”

“It was easier on the mobile device as I didn’t have to get up [to] turn on the computer and wait for it to boot up.”

 

As I pointed out in my previous article, more than half of mobile visitors will abandon a website if it hasn’t loaded after only 3 seconds. Google has taken this even further and stated sites should ultimately load on a mobile device within one second!

Besides pulling up your website on your own mobile devices, there are other tools out there useful for assessing your websites speed and optimization, as well. A few good ones are Pingdom, YSlow, and Google’s own, PageSpeed Insights. If what you find is disappointing or all the numbers and jargon are confusing to you, feel free to contact us and we can help you get those numbers where they should be.

Usability

At first glance, you may think your website looks nice and pretty on a mobile device. But wait – can you actually read it or do you have to pinch and zoom first and scroll side to side? How about buttons and links. Are you able to easily click them without accidentally clicking on something else nearby? If you have any videos on your site, are they playable on a mobile device? If any content requires Adobe Flash, it won’t be playable on an iPhone or on Android versions 4.1 and higher. These are just a few of the details that are addressed by a well-built mobile website.

As stated earlier, mobile users are ready to take action. Is your contact info – telephone, email, social media – easy to find on a mobile device? In our newest mobile design, we have taken extra care to make contact info the primary focus of mobile sites. If your patients are looking you up on the go, chances are they are ready to take action. Be sure it’s easy for them to do so.

Maps and Local Search

Patients searching for a dentist on their phone are looking for local search results. Google recognizes this and return results that are local first, even if the location hasn’t been directly typed into the search. This means your Google+ Local listings are crucial to potential patients finding your practice and website. It is therefore critical you put emphasis on your business listings in Google+ Local, Yelp, and Bing. Our Maps SEO service is the perfect way to achieve these results.

SUMMARY – Hopefully Operation Undercover Dentist has been helpful in assessing your patients’ mobile experience with your website. If you found the experience to be pleasant and user-friendly, pat yourself on the back because you are leaps ahead of most other dentists. However, if the experience was less than favorable, what are you waiting for? Make your website mobile-friendly now and stop missing out on all the action your patients are clearly taking on their mobile devices!