It’s pretty apparent in today’s society that people rely on their smartphones. Forgetting a phone charger or not having Wi-Fi can really ruin someone’s day. But why does this dependence on smartphones matter to your towing business? Because of your website. If your towing business has a website, it needs to be mobile-friendly. We’ll explain why.
6 reasons why your towing business needs to have a mobile-friendly website.
1. People need to be able to find your site.
If someone’s on the side of the road and they need a tow truck, what are they going to do? Pull out their cellphone and Google. Potential customers need to be able to find you, and that’s why you need to be where they’re looking – on mobile. A website that works great on a desktop may not work great on mobile, so you need to make sure your website is optimized for it.
In fact, in 2018 Google released a blog post explaining that they’ll be using mobile-first indexing. This means that they’re going to use the mobile versions of websites for indexing to help mobile users locate the helpful information they need. Having content that is mobile-friendly is still beneficial for people who want to do well with mobile searches.
2. You can reach more people.
As we said, people depend on their phones. You need to have a website that can reach these people. Otherwise, you could miss out on a whole bunch of potential customers. If you have a website that works great on mobile, you’ll be available and find-able to people who are Googling towing businesses on their phones. With a mobile-friendly site, you’ll tap into a wider audience.
3. People want instant results.
If someone’s Googling for tow truck businesses on their phone, they want the websites they find to work well and work fast. If your website takes too long to load or doesn’t format well on a phone, that potential customer is not going to stick around. People don’t have the time – or frankly the patience – to wait for your site to catch up with them. They’re not going to put up with a site that’s not cooperating or that’s difficult to navigate. They’re going to bounce (or leave the site.) And there are a lot of other websites for them to find.
4. Google is a thing.
You’ve got to make Google like your site. That’s a big deal. Because there are so many searches on mobile, Google wants the best content to be at the top – and being mobile-friendly can help you out. Funnily enough, marketing can simply be about persuading Google to pick you by having a great site. You can check out how mobile-friendly your site is using Google’s tool.
5. You need a website as part of your overall marketing plan.
Marketing is a key part of running a successful towing business and building a brand for your tow truck business. It’s important that your website ranks well on search engines. The goal of marketing is to attract more customers. And think about it – if that customer who’s stuck on the side of the road is blown away by how great your site is, you’ve already impressed them before you’ve even met them.
6. People need to be able to actually use the site.
Sure, pinch and zoom is easy on most phones now. So, having a site that isn’t necessarily mobile friendly isn’t the end of the world, but it’s still pretty bad. The truth is that if it isn’t easy to use your website, most users will leave pretty quickly. It’s all about usability.
In fact, even from a survey conducted back in 2015, “57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site.”
Your takeaway here is that your site should be great on any device. It should be as easy as possible to use, and it should be easy to contact you. With more of the world relying on the internet of things to serve our daily lives, if you’re not providing a great mobile experience for your customers online, then you are doing those same customers a disservice.
How to make your towing website more mobile-friendly
Now, all that’s fine and good, but how exactly does one make a towing website mobile friendly? Here are a few tips.
1. Take a look at your website on your phone.
Have you taken a look at your website on your phone lately? Pull up your website on your phone and see what you think. Does anything look strange? Does the site load quickly? How’s the formatting? Is your site responsive and easy to scroll? Make notes about anything that seems to need improvement.
Different types of phones are, well, different. Your site might look different on an iPhone than it does on a Google Pixel. Ask family and friends to pull up the website on their phone and tell you what they think. (Don’t forget to try different Internet browsers, too. And make sure the site looks okay with different accessibility settings – such as large text.)
2. Make your website responsive.
Responsive website design simply means that your website reacts or responds to the device that it is viewed on. (For example, if you’re looking at your website on your desktop at work, then it should respond with a bigger, wider layout. Likewise, if viewed on your iPhone, it will shrink to fit and fill the screen accordingly and still provide a great experience). Most websites built within the last few years should be responsive, so if you don’t know, ask your website designer. Platforms like WordPress offer a great place to start with templates and a worldwide community of developers and designers.
3. Check the site speed.
You’ve also got to make sure your site speed is fast. The site needs to load quickly and respond quickly. As we said, people aren’t going to stick around and wait for your site to catch up with them. They’re going to leave your site if it takes too long to load. People can be impatient, especially if their car broke down and they just want to get out of there.
You can use this tool to check your site speed.
4. Consider bringing in professional help.
Website creation, development, and management are complicated. It’s important to have a professional-looking website that’s optimized for search engines and mobile friendly. That’s why you might want some backup from a pro who can help you make your towing website rock. You can find a freelancer here.
5. Think about LiveChat.
LiveChat makes it easy for mobile customers to reach you ASAP. Some people don’t like to talk on the phone, so they might prefer to send a message to get in touch with you.
6. Include a contact form on your site.
It’s also important to have a contact form that people can use to send in messages. People might want to use an online form to ask a question. Make sure that your contact form has a big SUBMIT button so people don’t accidentally forget to hit submit.
There are plenty of reasons that your towing business needs to have a mobile-friendly site. A mobile-friendly website can help you reach a wider audience, rank better on Google, and hopefully get more views. Remember, marketing is crucial for running a successful business.
Another thing that’s crucial for running a successful business is having the right tow truck insurance. We can help. Get started with your quotes by filling out our online form, giving us a call, or messaging us on LiveChat.
Source:
https://www.socpub.com/articles/the-5-mobile-marketing-mistakes-infographic-14849
