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Go Mobile… by Mary Kay Miller

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Are mobile-enabled sites just the latest bump on the Internet super highway or the new fast lane? This question might be extra difficult to assess for your practice, especially if you were late getting into the Internet marketing game. But the numbers are staggering. By 2013, more people will use their mobile phones than PCs to get online.1 The "dot-com" Web sites are no longer the only gig in town.

Mobile might have been an underground subculture until a couple years ago, but now mobile is the mainstream. Innovative products like the iPad and Kindle have enjoyed huge success in consumer markets. Plus, the surge of Apple, Motorola and Samsung smartphones has opened new on-ramps to the Internet. Now more than ever it is important to incorporate mobile-specific optimized designs for the marketing of your practice.

There's no denying the power and market-changing dynamics of tablets, smartphones and mobile marketing. In only a few years, it has changed the way most Americans access and view information. Its impact will continue to grow as user numbers expand. That's why it's imperative to adopt new ways of delivering what parents, patients and prospects want from your practice.

In other words, you need to make sure your Web site is easy to find, sized correctly and easy to navigate on different types of mobile devices.

Here are three musts for mobile marketing:

  1. Optimize and present your mobile content so that it can be found on a mobile device.
  2. Build your mobile content properly so it displays neatly and accurately once it is found.
  3. Create a user experience that is simple, smooth and satisfying.
The user has a much different experience on a mobile device than on a laptop or desktop computer. For starters, the screen is considerably smaller, and uses touch screen technology that differs from a computer mouse or a track pad.
  • Standard Web sites are too big. Phone and mobile sites perform best in a stripped down format, i.e., less text,enlarged links, smaller images and reduced scrolling.
  • People would rather not drag, enlarge, scroll and zoom to find what they want. Mobile technology allows you to use appropriately sized graphics and buttons to put everything consumers want within one simple tap of their screen.
Phenomenal Growth of Mobile Can Fuel Your Practice
Mobile searches have grown by four times since 2010.2 So if you don't think your mobile Web presence matters, think again.

Every piece of marketing you put out there is a reflection of your practice. Few would argue that an outdated, archaic Web site is good for business. If your Web site is dusty and musty, prospective patients might assume your treatment modalities are similar.

On that same note, if a consumer finally finds your Web site on mobile local search and then must endure an inconvenient or dissatisfying experience, they will associate those negatives with your treatment and your practice. The consumer will move on to another provider, looking for a better experience.

It is now necessary to have an optimized mobile presence fora business. Smartphone users are driven by the instant gratification they can achieve with their mobile devices. They expect information to be organized and readable. They expect you to provide a pleasant mobile experience quickly,or else they will be moving past your site and your business faster than you can say,"Go Mobile." One survey showed 57 percent of mobile users would not recommend a business with a bad mobile site, and 78percent of mobile users will retry a site two times or less if it does not load initially.3

You might be thinking, this doesn’t really affect me since I’ve got a great Web site and business is good. Make no mistake: neglecting to “mobilize for mobile” will not only cause you to miss out on a treasure trove of prospective patients, but also might leave you vulnerable to competitors stealing your patients right out from under you. The numbers show that people (a lot of them) are browsing the Web on their phone.

Fig. 1: The chart tells how many millions of smartphone users we have in the United States, and then notes the percentage of mobile phone users who have smartphones along with the percentage of the overall population with smartphones.

By the end of 2013, it is predicted that more than 43 per-cent of the U.S. population will have a smartphone.4Thatmeans nearly 140 million Americans are walking around with a BlackBerry, iPhone or Droid. Right now, those 140 million smartphone users make up about half of all mobile phone users in the country. By 2016, that one-half will become three-quarters, when three out of four mobile phone users will be toting a smartphone. Still think mobile marketing is on the periphery?

Take a closer look at the demographic numbers with another eMarketer graphic from April 2012 (Fig. 2). Look inside the red box and you'll see the statistics for age groups 25-34 and 35-44. For an orthodontic practice, these are the primary targets: the parents of younger patients and also adult patients. By 2014, three out of four people age 25-44 are going to have a smartphone!

So, you're a business owner and you now know that 75 percent of your target market is using a smartphone. Don't you think your business would benefit by being accessible to this huge mobile market? What would it take to offer some attractive,engaging content for the thousands of smartphone users in your local area?

Hit the Accelerator for Mobile Marketing
There are a number of ways to position your practice and its Web site on mobile searches. Technology is now able to instantly determine whether a visitor to your site is on a mobile device. If so,the mobile application enables your Web site to offer content that is formatted and organized specifically for your mobile visitors.

One way is to add a Mobile Web Application to your Website that redirects users to mobile-specific content. It basically reformats your content into a smaller display frame so that it dis-plays neatly on a smartphone, iPad or netbook. However, it is a mirror image of your Web site and way too much content to be easily viewed on a smartphone. Although this application works well on an iPad or netbook, it falls short in the eyes of smart-phone users.

A second way to optimize your content for local search is to build a separate Web site, smaller than your main "dot-com" site.Mobile sites feature the most prudent information in an attractive, functional manner. Essentially they are condensed, truncated versions of a main Web site. Mobile Web sites typically have the same domain name as your main Web site, except the URL would end in ".mobi" instead of ".com."

A mobile redirect can be set up on your main Web site, similar to the redirect that the mobile application would use (the server recognizes when a visitor is on a mobile device, and then redirects them). With a separate mobile Web site, the redirect actually goes to an independent Web site rather than a stored version of your content that is minimized for mobile use.

Both approaches have benefits and the jury is still out on which method, ".com/mobile" or ".mobi" achieves better results in mobile local search. Some believe the mobile Web application will piggyback on the signal strength of the "dot-com" Web site,resulting in a high ranking on mobile local search.

Others are of the opinion that a separate mobile Web site,independent of the "dot-com" Web site, is a better option. One reason is that separate mobile sites allow for custom mobile content that can be updated in seconds, without editing the main Web site.

Another argument in favor of the separate mobile Web site is based on the premise that a .mobi Web site stands alone as rich, optimized mobile content, which the mobile search crawlers/bots might prefer and rank higher in mobile local search. Speaking of search crawlers and bots...

Mobile Local Search
The following excerpt from Google's official Webmaster blog on December 15, 2011 announced the smartphone Googlebot-Mobile:

The content crawled by smartphone Googlebot-Mobile will be used primarily to improve the user experience on mobile search. For example, the new crawler may discover content specifically optimized to be browsed on smartphones as well as smartphone-specific redirects.

Search engine bots (or "crawlers") visit your Web site once or twice a month; probing, searching, ranking and indexing your written content so the search engines can provide faster, more accurate results to its millions of users. Now there are new bots looking for mobile content, too.

Google split mobile search results from local search results and is now indexing the two separately due to the massive growth in mobile technology. Translation: Google search results from a home or office IP address can differ from Google search results on a 3G or 4G mobile network. So far, the two sets of search results are usually very close if not identical, but that could change as more mobile content is created and indexed.

QR Code Marketing
Quick Response Codes (QR Codes) are two-dimensional codes consisting of square dots arranged in a square pattern. They were originally invented by a subsidiary of Toyota to monitor automobiles during the manufacturing process. QR Codes are fast to read/scan and they can store more data than a basic barcode. QR Codes are actually capable of storing data in four different formats: numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary and Kanji (a Japanese language of characters and symbols).

QR Codes can be used in marketing to instantly bring prospects customized, targeted content. QR Codes are popping up everywhere, and dozens of QR Reader Apps have been created for all the different mobile devices.

The best thing about QR Codes is their portability. They can go on T-shirts, water bottles, business cards, stickers, office collaterals and any other place you can think of. QR Codes are mobile marketing personified: quick, efficient and customized.

The problem with QR Codes is that they are only as good as the content encoded for marketing purposes and the printer creating the marketing materials. (Always test QR codes to make sure they work correctly before approving final print.) Creating a QR code that directs mobile visitors to a standard Web format not easily viewed on a cellphone is frustrating for the viewer.

QR Codes are still somewhat of a novelty and no one has written the book on how to utilize them properly. Consider this: the QR Code that links to the homepage of your Web site might be great for a business card, but useless for a kid's T-shirt. The placement of the QR Code determines who is going to see it and who is going to see it determines the content you link to the QR Code.

For example, slap a QR Code on a school banner at your local little league park or gymnasium. Make sure it is large enough to be scanned. Link the QR Code to a discount coupon offering a free consultation, or contest that grabs attention when scanned rather than linking to the homepage of your mobile site. Now you're capitalizing on two powerful marketing tools – saving money and winning prizes. Hopefully you see that there is potential with QR Codes, but you might have to think outside the box to realize that potential. Also, the ability to edit QR pages on the backend of mobile Web sites affords businesses the ability to adapt new marketing strategies instantly on the fly without reprinting.

Give Mobile Users What They Want
As a marketer, it is your job to tell your prospects what they want to know, not what you want to tell them. Once you figure out what your prospective patients want to know, you must figure out the best way to present that information.

First, understand the opportunities and limitations of your medium. While in most cases a standard Web site shows up just fine on a tablet with no mobile customization, a smartphone requires that you make some adjustments. Don't make your prospects jump through hoops! Here are some basic rules to follow.

Top Five Mobile Design Tips
1.Build your mobile Web site in a .mobi format.
This is a separate domain for your mobile site that is not a subdomain of your .com site. The .mobi URL will automatically feature files regularly requested by mobile search engines, directories and other mobile-centric Web sites.

2.Information first!
People want a map or directions, a linked phone number they can tap to call at the top of the site, a doctor bio, a patient login link to check appointments, and a practice video three minutes or less that's an overview of your practice – they want information! All should be easily accessible and in an organized format.

3.Make the mobile site action-oriented.
Use links and call-to-action buttons. Get the users tapping buttons instead of scrolling, and they will have a better experience. Keep the touch links isolated to reduce accidental clicks.

4.Consolidate your written content.
Not only is it difficult to read a lot of text on a phone, but one of the more important features of a mobile Web site is load time. The faster your mobile site loads, the better it performs for both users and search bots. Avoid long passages of text and large images.

5.Build for scrolling along only one axis.
Whether it is up-and-down or side-to-side, to maintain an organized site, build user-friendly navigation. This means no diagonal scrolling!

The good news about mobile marketing is that it is stripped down and simplified. Advanced technology allows for mobile sites to look fresh, sleek and offer an extremely satisfying customer experience.

The first practices to "Go Mobile" will reap the recurring benefits of a strong mobile search history, higher mobile search rankings and will also have first crack at the prime search engine optimized ".mobi" domain names. Don't sit idly by as your competitors drive off with your new patients.

References
  1. Gartner, 2010
  2. Google Mobile Optimization Webinar, 2011
  3. Compuware, "What Users Want from Mobile," 2011
  4. eMarketer, April 2012
Author's Bio
Mary Kay Miller is an Internet marketing consultant specializing in Internet marketing solutions, SEO and exclusive social media services for orthodontic practices. She was the first orthodontic consultant to pursue this area of expertise and has been working with practices since 2007. With more than 30 years of experience in private practice management and marketing and 12 years in Internet marketing, she has developed the attitude, skills and knowledge necessary to coach doctors and their staff on how to take their practices to the next level. For more information, visit her Web site at www.orthopreneur. com. Orthopreneur offers comprehensive mobile marketing programs and complete soup-to-nuts .mobi Web sites and custom QR Code setup. Miller can be contacted at 877-295-5611 or mk@orthopreneur.com.

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