Pick up the phone! 4 Critical Website Techniques For Small Business.

Cellphones are becoming a dominant method for folks who need to find a local business right now. Right this minute! People who are looking on their phones are often buying right now.

Imagine. You are on the way to visit a friend at and you don't have a gift. What about flowers? What about a gift basket? You grab your cell phone and find out that there's a gift basket store just a block from their house. And it's open. Easy-peasy.

Imagine. You're working a set of appointments in a new area in the city and you have to, have to get some dry cleaning done. Pick up the phone. There's a handy dry cleaner right there. Easy-peasy.

Imagine. You're on your way to a big presentation and, disaster! You spill that Timmies coffee all over your printed materials. Need a copy shop right away! Pick up the phone. Easy-peasy.

I, honestly, don't know how I functioned without the phone. I may be saving a good hour a day in efficiency and productivity just making use of features like web search, transit schedules. That's a lot of time, either to work or (gasp!) to spend with family and friends. And the whole world is starting to do the same. You want this business. It's the equivalent of having a storefront in the centre of town that gets tons of foot traffic because of location.

How can you maximize your chances of getting this business

1. Search engine optimisation.
There is room, on a small screen,  for about three entries. If the search is 'sports equipment Yonge and Eglinton' and you have a sports store near that location, you want to be one of the three top entries. Through the use of Social Media, keywords, and other techniques, your shop can be there.

2. Have a website designed for easy viewing and navigation on a cellphone.
Many sites require a second, specifically designed mobile site. However, most of my clients are small, local businesses with small websites. For these folk, I recommend a re-design and a switch to Responsive code. Responsive code checks what device is viewing the website and optimises the site for viewing on that device. It's nifty and intelligent -- and you don't have to go to the bother of updating two sites every time you decide to have a promotion!

3. Your phone number should be front and centre and clickable.
Your company's phone number should be at the top of your website. Aaaaand, front and centre on every page. Most websites have stopped even putting the phone number on the front page, let alone at the top, making a cell phone user really dig for a quick way to contact you. Crazy. What are you hiding your number for? And remember to make that number clickable - so that if the cell phone user clicks it, the number is loaded straight into his or her phone. Easy peasy.

4. Put critical details at the top.
If he or she only had a tiny, little screen to look at, what would be the most important thing for a customer to see? What does a person on the run want to know? Is the store open? Where is the store? What specials are on right now? What brands do they carry? Put this information or links to this information right at the top for your cell phone users.

This might require a redesign of your website but it is critical to increased sales figures as the world switches to handheld devices.