Smartphones have dominated the world of technology over the last decade or so. Becoming far more than a device for making calls and sending messages, these phones have transformed into fashion items and objects of desire, but a lot of small businesses are failing to take advantage of this boom.

As smartphones have become more powerful and gained more features, they’ve become far more suitable for jobs like online shopping. More than 79% of smartphone users have made an online purchase using their phone in the last 6 months, and this is a staggering number compared to what experts used to find in this area.

Of course, though, customers will only be able to find your store if it is optimised properly, and this is causing loads of companies to miss out on the £27bn mobile shopping boom which has swept the web. But what exactly is causing this to be such an issue?

SEO

Getting a website into good positions on sites like Google is much harder than a lot of people realise. The content on each web page, the way a website is built, and the external work which is done to make the website popular will all impact this area. Many small companies can’t afford to get help with this, making it well worth learning about the field to make sure that you can do as much for your website as possible.

To get started, you’re going to need to research website structure, keywords, and tools like Google Search Console. You will also need to make your website run faster, while also working hard to make sure that as many websites link to yours as possible. Customers won’t want to use a slow website to buy their goods, and search engines like Google will check to make sure your website is running quickly whenever a search is made.

Usability

There are few things worse than choosing an item you’d like to buy but being unable to figure out how to get your hands on it. A lot of ecommerce sites are poorly optimised for mobile usage, making it incredibly difficult for users to make their way around them when they are using a mobile device.

Making a responsive site isn’t easy, and a lot of companies fail before they get started, making it well worth putting plenty of time into researching this before you break ground on your website. With so many users visiting on their smartphones, it makes sense to create an experience which will look stunning on these devices, while also being incredibly easy to use. Choosing a tool like WordPress will make this simpler, though options like SquareSpace will often be far faster to get started with.

As time goes on, it’s going to become impossible for businesses to avoid optimising their site for search engines and mobile devices. Having a website which is slow to load or difficult to use will always put customers off. Some will be happier than others in this situation, but this doesn’t mean that you can afford to ignore this area entirely.

Making Investments In Technology

Having under-optimised user experiences can be expensive for UK firms. If you’re looking for the funds to invest, a business loan might help you achieve what you need to in order to stay competitive. Check if you’re eligible today.