“This website works so well on my mobile device,” said no one, ever. With Christmas out of the way, customers will approach quarter one re-energised and ready to make considered purchases that make their lives easier and move their businesses forward.

And they’ll find most of these items online whilst browsing on a mobile device.  Is your website set up to engage them? Read our three easy ways to make sure your website is fully optimised for business:

1 Ensure your basic web set up is sorted for mobile devices

Recent research showed that 59% of small to medium business websites were not mobile friendly and 61% of shoppers leave a site if it isn’t mobile friendly. So, before you give your customers an excuse to go bargain hunting elsewhere, try these basic fixes.

First, check to see if your website works on mobile. You could take the Creare Digital Health Check to see if your site is mobile responsive.

What does ‘mobile responsive’ actually mean? Basically, it means having a site that looks great and works well on a mobile device i.e. a tablet, iPad etc.

If you have to pinch then you're doing it wrong

A site where the user doesn’t have to pinch, squeeze or move the screen around to see the content on these devices, one that loads quickly and without sticking, and everything is available to view straight away.

2 Great images sell products

No one buys a product they have never seen. Now is the time to invest in clear product pictures on your website; the more, the better.

But ensure they are optimized for mobile. If possible, show the product at all angles, allow the customer to zoom in, see the detail, colours and sizes. Providing all this information makes it an easier purchase for the customer, and they are more likely to buy.

Even stock images have improved dramatically in recent years (credit Think Stock)

As a longer term project, if you have the cash, get product videos done – The Watch Shop have videos for all their products are a good example of how to do it well.

3      Shout about your offers

Not many shoppers can resist a bargain, so make sure any special product offers are clearly visible on your site, well signposted and look good. And don’t just use your website to promote deals, talk about them where your customers are hanging out too, such as on social media or in e-mail newsletters.

Customers will access all of this via their smartphones, so link Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and e-mail to your website so that once you’ve engaged the customer, they are taken directly through to buy.

Tom Darnell, is chief commercial officer at Creare