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On a daily basis business owners like you get phone calls from a company trying to sell a new website. Fancy terms like responsive, user permissions, API development, cron jobs, user engagement improvement, bounce rate, UI/UX, and so on are tossed out in an attempt to sound cutting edge.

More often than not, because of the bombardment of sales calls and the simple fact that an average business owner isn’t an expert in web design and development, most of this means absolutely nothing. Closing the deal if they happen to get in front of you comes down to price not value.

Is cost a major factor in decision making? Of course it is. But what most sales people in the industry don’t realize is the vast majority of business owners aren’t afraid to spend money, assuming there is justifiable ROI on the investment.

So without further beating around the bush, why is it important to have a responsive website and how does it impact advertising ROI?

1. Mobile retail has now surpassed desktop

This is not supposition, this is fact. If you’re marketing your brand, there is a greater chance customers are making buying decisions on a smartphone or tablet not their desktop. Just think about how you operate as a consumer. It’s highly probable you fall into this demographic.

How often have you been watching a TV commercial, heard a radio spot, or seen a billboard and immediately Googled it or typed in the URL? When the website loads, if it’s out of date, you have to scroll and just can’t find what you’re looking for; what do you do? More than likely you either immediately have a bad impression of the brand, and/or promise yourself to look at it on your computer later.

A large percentage of people (yourself included) never actually follow through even though we were temporarily ready to make a buying decision. ROI on ad dollar lost by default.

2. Google Ranking directly affected

We all know that great search rankings dramatically increase business. Just about everyone who owns a business has been pitched on paying for SEO or has already invested a significant amount of time and money on more than one occasion.

In today’s SEO world, it cost significantly more and takes a lot longer to achieve great search results, but let’s say you have done so. Here is one great reason to have a responsive website.

Google has directly stated it gives added search rank credit towards responsive, fast loading sites. Being ranked just one position higher generally results in a traffic boost. Having a responsive website has been shown to directly affect bounce rate and increase conversion percentage.

So how does this impact your ROI? Greater return on your SEO budget. Plus we all know that brands ranked highly on Google are perceived as major players by consumers.

3. Brand Credibility Established In 3.7 Seconds

If your website isn’t responsive, not only are you losing potential customers, you lose brand value by default. Today’s consumer doesn’t care that you’ve been in business for fifty years, we live in a world of instant gratification.

Recent studies show that we now have just 3.7 seconds to engage potential customers. So ultimately, it doesn’t matter if they visit your site because of search rankings, Adwords, traditional advertising or word of mouth. Future business can be lost because your company is now viewed as out of date by many consumers.

Potential customers engaging with your brand, the services or product you offer and taking more time on the site increases your opportunities to earn new customers. It’s that simple.

So how does this impact your ROI? The more time they spend and the more credible your brand appears, the greater ROI you will receive on advertising dollars.

There are many more reasons having a responsive website is important in today’s marketplace, but just these three should make it clear. It directly influences buying patterns of today’s consumer and is here to stay. As a business owner you can either hop on board or lose business.