Brand personality, value, and differentiations at the center

It seems like every day there’s a new social media channel the kids are gathering on. TikTok, Lasso … plenty of others I’m too old to know about. For B2B marketers, it’s a lot simpler, thankfully—we still rely on the proven “old-school” methods, according to the new report from HubSpot that looks at 2020 marketing trends.

According to the 3,400 marketers surveyed, websites are still the channel most frequently used for marketing. But websites have something in common with social media: It’s only as good as the content you put on there. For B2B businesses, that means you need to be constantly updating your blog, or adding new videos, thought leadership pieces, eBooks, white papers, infographics, or customer success stories. Not only will that new content make you more likely to be found by search engines, it will also give audiences a reason to visit your site.

Updating content takes time, though, as we know from our experience developing content for our clients at Cisco, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Twitter, Google and more! If you don’t have the internal expertise and resources, BayCreative can help. With BayCreative, you get an entire team of experienced writers, designers, editors, videographers, illustrators and marketers who are experts at content creation for websites. We love helping B2B companies achieve their marketing goals. If we can help you, just let us know.

In 2018, 52.2 percent of web traffic came from mobile devices. Another study found that on average, people consume 69 percent of their media on smartphones.

According to Google, 53 percent of mobile website visitors leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load, yet, most mobile websites still take longer than this. Putting people off with a poor mobile experience means you are losing them at the moment of their peak interest. Sure, they might make a note or check you out on their laptop later, but in terms of the relationship with the viewer, it’s terrible timing.

These stats are motivating to say the least, and it’s clear a website not optimized for mobile is not giving your audience what they need. But what shall we do about creating a great mobile experience?

To start, consider that mobile users are by definition less patient and more distracted. They’re usually out and about, and they’re viewing your website on a device designed to distract. Phone calls, alerts, pings, Twitter, Facebook, are all right there ready to draw attention away from your visitor.

Having a great mobile experience is about a lot more than just having a responsive site build. Design and writing, tailored for mobile, can play a big part and can help you compete with all those other distractions.

Here Are 5 Key Strategies for Making a Great B2B Mobile-Friendly Website

• Swap for mobile
  Consider substituting content for mobile. Along with the sizing adjustments built into a responsive design, are ways to swap content as well. You may have a diagram with a horizontal orientation at the laptop size, but swap it out with a vertically oriented version for mobile. You might shorten some content, or provide links to content that would otherwise be in a longer piece?

• Be wary of the scroll
  People have no problem scrolling—it’s even fun. But too much of it can be a pain, and be wary of long paragraphs and long blocks of copy. Try to break up the content with subheads, small graphics, paragraph breaks, etc. Pace those features in a long story so they can help the reader navigate a long story.

• Fat thumbs welcome
  Few things are more frustrating than tiny, tiny buttons that you’re lucky to click after the 3rd or 4th try. Make your buttons and other “clickables” big (even if that means a little more scrolling). And this goes double for pop-ups and splash screens. Frustration quickly turns to irritation, not unlike that person who stands a little too close while talking to you.

• Write progressively
  Whether your views are “progressive” or not, write content that starts at a high level and gets into the details as you go. Especially in the mobile universe where your attention span is anybody’s guess. People appreciate knowing what they are getting into with a story. Briefly finding out the main points up front, and then being presented with the option to delve deeper, gives readers options. You might even get some bookmarked pages out of this.

• Give them a clear path to follow
  Unlike print and other form factors for bigger screens, it’s difficult for readers on mobile to navigate story components like sidebars and other “featured” elements. Try to avoid long detours from the main story flow. That said, do include pull quotes and other shorter items in the flow. (Per the prior tip–those help readers to stay oriented).

Partner with BayCreative for an Exceptional B2B Mobile-Friendly Website

Creating a B2B website optimized for mobile devices requires both expert design and a well-thought-out approach to content. BayCreative employs experienced web designers and talented writers to help our clients develop sites that visitors can read and interact with no matter what device they’re using. If you’re considering updating your website, give us a call.

We are recognized as a top California Web Design Company on DesignRush.

• These days, you have to have a responsive design to your B2B website, meaning it automatically adjusts the layout to the device it’s being viewed on. That way, your website will have a mobile-first feel to it. Also, write your on-page content for mobile devices—keep it concise and break it up with white space and bullet points.
  
  
• Your B2B website needs to be search engine optimized so it appears high in the list of results when a prospect looks for your product/service on an online search engine. SEO has been a staple of websites from the beginning. But, like website design best practices, it’s constantly evolving; that means you have to constantly be re-approaching your site content and off-site SEO factors.
  
  
• Related to that is the need for consistent, quality content on your B2B website. A good website is more than just a storefront with a list of products. By including regular blog posts and other content such as case studies and white papers, you turn your website into a library of content that showcases your knowledge.
  
  
• When you think about content for your B2B website pages, don’t just fixate on text. Include compressed video, pictures, infographics, and more. Be sure to fill in the alt tag and description boxes for those content pieces, because that will help with SEO, as well.
  
  
• Use consistent messaging throughout your B2B website.
  
  
• Keep navigation easy. Set it up so that the end user can reach any page within three clicks, make the path to that final destination clear, and ensure the user has clear choices and can easily get to where they want to go within your site.
  
  
• Don’t load your B2B website up with plug-ins and large photo and video files that bog down load times. The longer the page takes to load, the more likely the visitor will grow impatient and leave the page.
  
  
• Put a clear call to action (CTA) on every page, preferably on the top half of the page. Don’t leave visitors wondering what to do next.
  
  
• Continue to maintain, update, and analyze your B2B website to ensure it continues to work for you.