Billions To Be Made In Mobile

There’s gold in them thar hills! Well, to be exact, there’s money to be made in mobile! If your business hasn’t begun making moves towards mobile friendliness, then you’re doing it and yourself a disservice, and missing out on the best chance to increase both your web traffic and your overall profits.

We have seen the future, and it is hand-held

Some Eye-Opening Findings

According to Bob Parsons of GoDaddy, more than 20% of all Internet traffic in the United States comes from mobile devices, and yet less than 25% of small businesses have a mobile website. Why is this important? Because, as Parsons points out, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, about half of the adults in the US use a smart phone, and in the next few years, more people will use their smart phones to get online than with their desktops.

Parsons goes on to cite a study by Google that shows that over 80% of smart phone owners use their device to research local businesses, and 75% of them call or visit that business within one day. Google research also says that the majority of smart phone users who see a business ad will look for that business on their mobile device. Three-quarters of smart phone users make purchase decisions based on research they do with their mobile devices, with half of those searches leading directly to a purchase.

And Some Sobering Negatives …

If your site is hard to load on a smart phone, you may be in for some trouble. Google has found that 79% of the people who have difficulty loading a site on their smart phone will simply move on and look for another site. That means that you lose, and your competitors win.

Furthermore, more than 50% of smart phone users say they are less likely to engage with a company that presents a bad mobile experience, whereas 67% of mobile users say that a mobile friendly site makes them more likely to buy a product or service.

The Future Is Here; Are You Ready?

Whether you have a separate site created for mobile users or overhaul your existing site to make it mobile responsive, the evidence shows that your small business needs to evolve and adapt for the future, if it’s to survive. According to Javelin Strategy and Research, last year consumers spent over $20.7 billion using their smart phones, and Forrester Research says that number will hit $31 billion by 2016.

Stop for a moment and let that sink in: thirty-one billion dollars via smart phone shopping. Don’t you want a slice of that pie?

Technology is a funny thing; desktop computers helped bring about the decline of letter writing and making phone calls from your traditional residential phone. And now, those very same computers are being threatened by the rise and dominance of smart phones and the whole mobile culture that follows it. The weak perish, and the strong survive, and that applies to businesses. Rest assured that your competitors are embracing the new technology.

And incidentally, if your website isn’t geared towards mobile and you want to do something about it, the ideal strategy is to change your existing site to a more mobile responsive one, as opposed to creating a special site just for mobile. Multiple websites are a pain to maintain.

Just saying …

Byline: John Terra has been a freelance writer since 1985. He’s a big proponent of smart phones.

Photo Credit: Photos.com