According to statistics, worldwide Internet users are increasingly using mobile phone to inquire about companies, products or services. They must not be neglected, given the fact that shopping from a mobile phone is becoming more simple, practical and handy. Currently, there still exist phones that do not have the ability to display unoptimized web pages (tailored just for laptop / desktop view), so you can lose many customers because of this.
In 1997, there were approximately 1 million websites, and in 2007, there were 150 million. In 2007, there were about 1 million mobile websites, and the number is supposed to reach 150 million by 2017. It is clear that mobile friendly websites are going to increase exponentially in the years to come. The internet started on the PC but with more than 3 billion mobile phones being used world wide. The advertisement network InMobi has revealed the fact that a whopping 60% of internet traffic comes from mobile devices now, and other research groups have estimated that the amount of shoppers using mobile devices rose to 35% in 2014. Therefore, if you don’t have a mobile friendly website, a lot of users cannot view your site, and you can say goodbye to a lot of potential clients or customers!
Why You Should Have a Mobile Friendly Site
Popularity of mobile internet: According to studies, about 40% of the people who have a mobile phone use it for going online, and half of them will go online at least once every day. This represents a huge opportunity for a business.
Rise of the smart phones: Smartphones have become affordable over the past few years. Almost everyone is looking to buy one. These devices are excellent for hand held browsing. Since the sale of smart phones is increasing, it only makes sense for companies to have a site that can be easily browsed through on these devices.
Represents an inexpensive option: Due to the fact that mobile screens are a lot different from computer screens, the site design has to change accordingly. It is a relatively cheap process and not very time consuming either.
Use of GPS: GPS is a very important and useful technology. It is used by many mobile users to find out necessary things or directions. They also use it to find nearby services or businesses. If there is no mobile site available for your business then you are potentially losing a customer right in your own area.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Having a mobile friendly website also helps improve rankings on mobile friendly search engines such as Google or Yahoo.
Better user experience: Earlier, it might not have been possible to make a mobile site and give the user a good enough experience because of the low bandwidth and server speeds. However, in recent times, this has changed and you can be assured that using a good mobile site will be an enriching experience for a user.
In the near future, the number of people accessing the internet via mobile will be more than those accessing it via a PC. This should be a clear indication for you to start working on the mobile version of your site. Apart from that, the biggest draw on the internet today are social networking websites. Many people access these websites through there mobile devices. If they come across a link to your site, they would want to view it on their mobile screens.