Go Mobile or Go Home

As you read more about digital marketing, one topic you’ll see mentioned often is mobile. Building a company website takes time, and many organizations don’t want to repeat the process with a mobile website. There is, however, an excellent reason to do so.

Your audience is mobile

Your prospective customers are using their phones for more than talking to their families and ordering pizza (although there are apps for that). They’re also checking email, shopping, searching Google, watching videos, and playing games.

A 2011 mobile search study reveals some specifics:

• 84 percent of respondents use mobile search to find information about local retailers (hours of operation, address, etc.)
• 71 percent of respondents use mobile search to learn more about a product or service after seeing an advertisement

Over 1 billion of the world estimated 4 billion mobile phones are capable of accessing the Internet; at this rate, mobile Internet access will surpass by desktop usage by 2015.

The disconnect

Despite mounting evidence that companies that delay or ignore mobile website development put their competitive edge in peril, as many as 70% of businesses do not have a mobile website. They are leaving it up to the web itself to display their full websites on mobile devices, and it isn’t pretty.

When asked what frustrates them most about mobile web browsing, people cite items like poor navigation, hard to find/read information, and slow page load times. These frustrations can be lessened or removed through the use of a specially-crafted mobile website.

The good news

As the importance of mobile websites increases, so do the number of ways to craft them. A mobile site can often be built in conjunction with a desktop site, making it easier to align the goals of each and keep budgets under control.

Another boon to mobile is the advent of responsive design, which allows a developer to build a single website that dynamically adjusts itself to fit all screens — anything from a large desktop to an iPhone. Mobile visitors can access all of your website’s content with minimum scrolling and zooming, decreasing frustration and giving them a pleasant mobile experience.

How to get started

The first step in any good plan is education. To learn more about mobile website design, strategy, and what to keep in mind when looking for a website developer, download the Marketer’s Mobile Blueprint to Mobile Websites.

Download now

[Image: Pawel Kabanski]