The Future Of e-Commerce Is In The Palm Of Your Hand… Literally

Why mobile-friendly websites are the way to go for increased sales

As you may have heard, the future of the Internet is mobile. More and more people are purchasing iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. In fact, according to a Pew Research study, the number of people who own smart phones is now greater than the number of people who own regular cell phones. Given this widespread adoption of mobile computing technology, the need for businesses to develop mobile-friendly versions of their websites has never been stronger.

If you yourself own a smart phone, consider how many times you have used it while in your car (not while driving, of course) to look up the address, phone number, or office hours of a business, or to compare the features of an item in a store with its competitors. If you’re like a lot of businesspeople who own smart phones, you probably would feel lost without it for a day. You may even have a company-issued blackberry.

The usefulness of mobile computing devices is obvious. Yet, in spite of this, smart phones and tablets do have a few limitations, the most prevalent of which is the speed at which data can travel to and from the device. Consider the following scenario:

Joe Shopper wants to know if any hardware stores are open at 9:00 AM on a Saturday. You, the owner of Bob’s Downtown Hardware Store meet this criterion. Joe uses his iPhone to search for hardware stores in his local area, and yours, thanks to excellent SEO, shows up first on the list. He selects it, but even with 4G service, the page takes forever to load, and he gives up, returning to the search results. Will’s Hardware Depot doesn’t open until 12:00 on weekends, but Will’s site has a mobile version that loads in a matter of seconds. Since Joe couldn’t find your site on his phone, he goes to Will’s store, thinking that’s the earliest any hardware store will be open on a Saturday, and you have just lost the opportunity for a sale.

 This is just one reason why it is becoming essential for businesses to have mobile versions of their websites. A good mobile site will have larger, easy-to-read text, large navigation links, a good search feature, and contact info that can interface with a smart phone’s dialer and/or GPS software. Imagine how easy it would be for customers to find your business if they could search for it on their phone, find exactly what they want in the search field, easily locate your address and phone number, automatically dial your office to schedule an appointment or ask a question, and then instantly get directions to your office just by pressing down on your address?

Dispelling the Myths about Mobile Websites

Myth: I don’t get much traffic from customers on mobile devices, so I don’t need a mobile site.

Fact: The number of people using mobile devices is growing rapidly, and even if you don’t get much mobile traffic now, you certainly will in a year or two. Perhaps the reason you aren’t getting much mobile traffic is because your site is hard to access from mobile devices. If you send out mass e-mail campaigns, be advised many people check their e-mail on their phones. So, if they’ll be more likely to respond to your e-mails if it links to a mobile-optimized website.

Myth: Mobile websites need entirely different content than my regular website.

Fact: Mobile websites can and should have exactly the same information and abilities as their desktop equivalents. You don't even necessarily need to create a separate website either. Niche Marketing PR can help set you up with a progressive website design that adapts itself automatically to the screen size and type of device a viewer is using.

Myth: Apps are better than mobile websites.

Fact: Apps are expensive to develop and they are platform-specific, so if you have an app that is designed to work on an Android smartphone or tablet, you will need a separate version of that app to be developed for the iPhone and iPad. That means more development costs. Some mobile developers can charge as much as $20,000 to develop an app for just one mobile platform. A mobile website, on the other hand, can be developed for far less, and if you have Niche Marketing PR set you up with a progressive website design, it will be able to adapt itself to whatever device type, screen size, and operating system your customers are using, to include desktop computers and smart televisions.

Call Niche Marketing PR today at (757) 788-8157 to schedule your complimentary consultation with one of our mobile website development experts.

Website Optimization > Mobile Website Development