What is a Mobile Website and Does Your Business Need One?

Posted by Julie Vetter on Tue, Mar 27, 2012

There is a lot of talk about needing a mobile Website, but it can be confusing enough to figure out how to use a smartphone, let alone understand how to use them in your marketing strategy.

Websites have traditionally been built to be viewed on a desktop or laptop computer. Today consumers and professionals want to access the information they need on-the-go. The challenge is that these devices have a smaller screen, slower connections and different operating systems. You want to ensure that your customers have a seamless online experience with your site on any device they choose.

Why the buzz about having a mobile Website?

Do you already have a Website for your business? Isn't that enough, you ask?

Beside the great infographic at the end of this post, here are a few reasons why having a mobile-friendly site is important:

Mobile Internet is growing at a rate that will surpass desktop usage by 2015 or sooner. Your audience may miss your site half the time if it does not work on mobile devices.
25% of users of mobile devices no longer access the Web any other way. 1
One-half of searches are done on mobile devices now. 2
In the U.S., the majority of consumers have come to prefer using mobile browsers for banking, travel, shopping, local info, news, video, sports and blogs. 1

mobile websites

What is a mobile Website?

A mobile Website is basically a version of your Website that can be viewed on smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. There are services like http://gomobi.info/ or http://getsharesquare.com/ that let you inexpensively create a mobile Website. Alternatively, you may be able to provide a mobile friendly version of your own Website if it is built in a content management system (CMS) like http://www.hubspot.com/ or WordPress or Joomla! Thirdly, services like http://www.mobify.com will extend your existing site onto mobile and keep up with future devices for you.

How can a mobile Website be used?

You may want to take a step back from your Website and think about how your customers are using your site when they are on the road, the key functions they will need to access, and include these into your mobile Website.

As an example, when a user is out and about, chances are they are not browsing your Website to catch up on content – they likely have a specific function they want to accomplish. It is important to put yourself in the mindset of your customer and determine which site functions are most critical to them, and include these in your mobile Website. You may want to reduce your content to include only the most vital points, rethink the navigation to make it a simple, provide an easily searchable list and remove or resize images. When reducing the content, it is helpful to also include a link to the full version of your site so users have the option of viewing the main site as well.

Google's data on mobile users shows that mobile users have three common behaviors that can be considered in your mobile marketing strategy.

A. "Repetitive now" B. "Bored now" C. "Urgent now" 3

The first are things like checking email, stocks, social media; the second are distractions while waiting in line or for an appointment such as playing games or reading news; the third is looking for a hotel or restaurant, a mechanic or computer repair store.

Different strategies may bring mobile users to your site. Mobile coupons get 10 times the redemption rate of traditional coupons (Source: Borrell Associates)

Restaurants find that having a button to immediately dial to make reservation from the front page of the mobile site can measurably increase nightly business. In an entirely different business, a mobile phone app developer may find banner ads displayed on other random apps does not do as well as more targeted advertsing on apps that are related to theirs -- games on gaming apps or productivity tools on other productivity apps.