A website is a fundamental part of doing business in today’s economy.

It is a 24/7 Shopfront, a representation of your brand and brand experience, a searchable listing of information about your company and the services you provide.

More and more Australians use the internet daily for a number of activities, search being preeminent. When it comes to purchase decisions 60-80% of research is carried out online prior to purchase.

Keeping this in mind, it is alarming that although 90% of Australian businesses have access to the internet, only 50% of Australian businesses have an online presence according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

We have reached the age of digital disruption. Businesses without any online presence are potentially facing extinction in the coming years, as a reliance on the tried and true sales and marketing models of the past need to alter to accommodate digital strategies. Many businesses are losing the battle for the consumer, because they cannot be found.

It can also be a sobering thought that tomorrow’s customer are digital natives.

Gen Z were born in 1995-2009, the oldest of this generation is 19 years of age and has not experienced life without the internet.

Does your business have an online presence? Can your customer find you... anytime, anywhere?

McCrindle has illustrated a generational map and estimates Gen Z will be 12% of the work force by 2020.

For additional information on Generations please follow the link Australia-Population-Map-Generational

Getting your Business MobileSnap Franchising Ltd Ground Floor, Building D, 12-24 Talavera Road, North Ryde NSW 2113 www.snap.com.au

The Australian consumer is one of the fastest adopters of new technologies in the world and second only to Singapore in its usage of Smartphones. In 2012, over 50% of the Australian population owned a Smartphone and it a safe assumption that this figure will continue to rise over the coming years.

The decision to buy a Smartphone is often motivated by knowledge that a good Smartphone allows its user to accomplish more while remaining mobile. With many Australians squeezing more and more out of their daily lives, most have developed the ability to multi-task and Smartphones enable this. The Smartphone has become an indispensable part of the average Australian’s daily lives. Many never leave home without their Smartphone.

• 24% of Australian Smartphone users take their phones with them when shopping to research products

• 22% change their minds whilst in-store about a purchase after completing a mobile search

• 57% of Smartphone users actively searched on their mobile device for further information after seeing a TV advertisement

• 61% of mobile users indicated that they are unlikely to return to a site that they had trouble accessing from their Smartphone

• 51% of Smartphone users access the internet via their mobile multiple times a day

• 4.2 hours per week is spent accessing mobile internet

• 71% of Australians have access to the internet from their phones

• 17% of Australians were willing to use a mobile service to pay for goods in-store

76% of Australians will access their mobile between 1-5 times a day to browse and search the internet.

Sources: Our mobile planet: Australia – Understanding the Mobile Consumer’ Report; Nielsen, Australian Online

Consumer Report and MasterCard Online Shopper Survey.

Graph from the AIMIA - AUSTRALIAN MOBILE PHONE LIFESTYLE INDEX 9th Edition - October 2013

The Rise of the SmartphoneSnap Franchising Ltd Ground Floor, Building D, 12-24 Talavera Road, North Ryde NSW 2113 www.snap.com.au

Graph from Our Mobile Planet: Australia – Understanding the Mobile Consumer’ Report

Why do I need a mobile website?Snap Franchising Ltd Ground Floor, Building D, 12-24 Talavera Road, North Ryde NSW 2113 www.snap.com.au

Most websites were not designed to be viewed on the small screens of a mobile phone and mobile internet speeds are usually much slower than they are for PC. This means that big images, videos, or flash content that would normally work fine could take a long time to load on a mobile device. Mobile users are also often looking for different parts of your site than they would on their PC such as a map or a phone number. This results in a frustrating experience for end users and why a mobile website is a necessity.

A website that loads into your mobile phone is NOT a mobile website.A mobile website is designed and arranged specifically for the mobile user. Your customers expect the experience on your site via their mobile phone to be as good as that on a PC.

Consider this:

60% of users expect a mobile website to load in 3 seconds or less

71% of users expect a mobile website to load as fast as a desktop website

78% will retry a site two times or less if it does not load initially

Unprecedented uptake of mobile internet access has heightened the realisation that customer experience may be lacking when all they can see is a miniature view of your existing website or a rendered version of your website via a responsive website. Mobile sites need to be built separately. They have totally different style sheets.

For your site to perform well on a phone there are a number of technical considerations. The first is that your site should automatically recognise when a mobile phone is being used to access it so the user can be redirected to a mobile version. You also need to think about elements like screen resolution, making buttons and that links are bigger than normal. Features such as Flash need to be removed as they do not work on most Smartphones.

Sources: AIMIA - AUSTRALIAN MOBILE PHONE LIFESTYLE INDEX 9th Edition - October 2013Our mobile planet: Australia – ‘Understanding the Mobile Consumer’ ReportNielsen, Australian Online Consumer ReportMasterCard Online Shopper Survey.

Be aware of the dangers of Responsive Websites

Things to look for in a good Mobile Site:

Snap Franchising Ltd Ground Floor, Building D, 12-24 Talavera Road, North Ryde NSW 2113 www.snap.com.au

Businesses looking to save money when creating two separate websites (a traditional site and a mobile site), often create a single site known as a Responsive Website that will render across both computers and mobile devices. As a separate style sheet is not created there can be problems created when viewing on mobile.

Some of the issues that arise with Responsive Websites include content cut off in unusual places, the screen being too small to show text or images properly, and slow load times. This will cause viewer frustration and could lead to loss of business.

• Loads quickly

• Rendered to the many types of handsets IOS, Symbian, HTC, Android etc

• Make it accessible - help customers by giving the info they need

• Simple icons - be thumb friendly

• Design for visibility - don’t cram too much into a tiny space

• Image sizes - not too large

• Navigation - keep it simple. Mobiles have limited space, take out unnecessary complexities

• Text size

• Contact info - click to call - regularly update contact info and display predominantly

• Maps - incorporate GPS

• If forms and galleries are to be included a redesign may be necessary

• Aligns with brand

• Ability to zoom

• Keep URLs the same - Google demotes websites that redirect mobile to a different homepage

• Test as many different mobile devices and operating systems as possible to eliminate error pages

• Ignoring the need for a professionally designed mobile website can result in missed opportunities for your business

‘‘ ‘‘Ignoring the need for a professionally designed mobile website can result in missed opportunities for your business.