Almost every business owner understands the importance of having a website in today's market. While having a business website is essential, many business owners do not realize the importance of having a mobile version of their sites as well. Why would you need to have a mobile friendly website?
Popularity of Smartphones
If you have paid any attention recently, you have probably noticed the large number of people who walk around looking at their smartphones. People are using smartphones for almost everything these days. They check email, surf the Internet, get on social networking sites, take pictures, send text messages and even occasionally talk on the phone. There are billions of smartphone users across the world and more people are buying these types of phones every day. If you want to be able to accommodate this huge market, you need a mobile friendly website for your business.
Proximity Marketing
Another reason that you may want to invest in a mobile friendly website is so that you can engage in proximity marketing. Many smart phones utilize GPS technology so that users can see where they are and what is around them. When you set up a mobile friendly website, you make yourself available to people who could be in the area. They can simply click on the address on your site and get directions to your place of business right then. Without the right type of site, you might be missing out on this golden opportunity.
Better Customer Experience
When you have a mobile friendly website, it will provide a better user experience for your visitor. A mobile site will load faster and easier than a regular site. It will use less data and everything will be available for the visitor to use right away. People who use smartphones with a limited data plan don't like having to use large amounts of data to be able to look at a website. With a mobile site, you will be able to accommodate these people and potentially save them some money on overage charges.
Get Ranked Better
In the traditional world of websites, you probably understand the importance of ranking highly in the search engines. If you rank higher, you're going to be able to get more free traffic for your site and more customers. When building a mobile friendly website, the search engine rules work a little bit differently. Sites that have mobile sites will be bumped up in the rankings when someone does a search on a mobile device. Search engines like Google put more emphasis on making sure that mobile phone users are happy with the results they get. This means that if you invest the time that it takes to build a mobile friendly site, you will potentially get more customers just by ranking higher in the search engines.
Make it Accessible
In some cases, you may need to make a mobile friendly site just so that users can see the content that you have on your regular site. For example, if you have a lot of flash content on your regular website, many smartphone users will not
even be able to see it. Anyone who uses an iPhone won't be able to see the flash content, unless they have a special app
installed on their phones. With a mobile friendly site, you can remove some of these barriers to entry and make it easy for
anyone to see what your site has to offer.
Your Competitors Are Doing It
In the business world, it's all about keeping up with the competitors. If you don't take the time to build a mobile friendly website, one of your competitors probably will. At that point, people in your area who are searching for what you sell on a mobile phone will probably be taken to your competitor’s website instead of yours.
Traffic for mobile users is expected to grow exponentially in the next few years. Do you want to get a part of this traffic or be left in the dust of your competitors?
About the Author
Brain Host is a web hosting company that offers superior shared hosting, 24/7 customer support, and an extensive collection of training materials and resources for website owners. With unlimited bandwidth, storage space, email accounts, and more, Brain Host provides a total hosting solution for any budget. For more information about Brain Host, click here.
