Posted on Sep 19, 2013

What Mobile Web Usage Means for Your Business

These days, pretty much everyone is walking around with the Internet in his or her pockets. With the rise of the smartphone came the rise of the mobile web. An 87-page Morgan Stanley report from 2010 predicted that by 2015 more people will be viewing internet sites on mobile web browsers than on computer browsers. That's a good reason why it's smart to consider the functionality of your business' website when it's viewed on a mobile device.

 

Mobile Trends

 

Even though mobile devices have built-in phones (duh!), according to this article in The Wall Street Journal, it’s getting harder to pick up. Smartphones are used for making or taking calls only about 45% of the time. A large chuck of that other chunk of time is spent surfing the mobile web, either for information or to buy things online. People will skip over your business if your website isn't optimized for the mobile web. The trend is heading towards mostly mobile viewing, and a conventional website just isn't enough to make the cut anymore. Here is some other helpful data from Pew when it comes to mobile viewing.

 

How to Determine Where your Audience is Accessing Your Content

 

If you're curious to see how many people are visiting your website from mobile devices, check out Google Analytics. From within Analytics you'll be able to see how many people are on mobile, and other key metrics such as how long people are remaining on your site and the search terms they're using to find you. If your mobile viewing statistics are awful, it most likely means that your website could be more responsive when viewed on a mobile device. To stay competitive, you'll want to do something about this.

 

Being Mobile Friendly Lets you In Front of More Eyeballs

 

People will be far more likely to spend time on your site and tell your friends about your site if it’s mobile friendly. Depending on your industry, this can make a world of difference.

 

Consider this: You're running a blog with high-quality content, but have a terrible mobile interface. You have a lot of readers who ride the train, and they’d love to read your blog every morning on their way to work. But…they get really bad headaches trying to read the content on your blog on their iPhones because of the less-than optimal viewing experience. Most of the readers decide it isn't worth it and start reading your competitor’s blog (even though your content is much better).

 

The few readers who are loyal and read your content (regardless of the poor interface) become less productive every day because your design hurts their eyeballs. They get headaches and their bosses notice. If the content of your website isn’t placed appropriately, you won’t drive as many visitors and you’ll be lacking in the attention department. The good news is that it’s easily preventable if you do some due diligence.

 

Use Mobile Trends to Enhance and Amplify Your Online Presence

 

To get your website and your business functioning well on mobile devices, there are a few things you can do. Study mobile trends. See what people love, like, and hate and what experts are predicting for the future. Build your website with purpose. Plan your content and design to work seamlessly together. Give your customers the information they need fast and conveniently.

 

The mobile web is constantly evolving. Keeping your business website optimized for mobile viewing and staying on top of the trends of mobile usage is crucial if you want to stay ahead and get noticed.

 

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