Why your website needs to go mobile…right now!

Smartphone adoption in Australia is growing rapidly. With every new Smartphone there is another web browser at the fingertips of a potential customer. If your website is not mobile friendly you could be losing out big time. Now is the time to get your site mobile compatible, whether that be completely mobile optimized or simply mobile “friendly” so that it displays well on mobile devices.

Some quick statistics:

• 18% of Australian households own at least one table device. This is forecast to reach 39% of homes by 2013 (Nielsen, Australian Online Consumer Report)
• It is estimated that 48% of Australian over the age of 16 own a Smartphone (up from 35% in 2011)
• 71% of Australians have internet access on the phone
• 61% of mobile users are unlikely to return to a site they had trouble accessing from their phone

There are many more statistics but these are compelling enough to start you thinking about your website.

The too hard basket

As with the early days of the internet there is a lot of misinformation, buzz words and jargon surrounding mobile. It can seem a complex and daunting task to get your website mobile ready but there are a number of simple ways to make it happen that doesn’t necessarily mean starting from scratch.

There are a number of options available to you to get your site mobile ready:

• Build a separate mobile site
• Create an alternate “view” or “style” for your site to present to mobile visitors
• Rebuild your current site to be mobile friendly (“responsive” or “fluid”)

Determining whether you should go mobile

The first step you should take as a business is to look at your Analytics (you are using Analytics right?) and see how many visitors to your site are on mobile.

Anything over 10% and you should be starting to think about making your site mobile friendly. If you had a bricks and mortar store would you want to put off 1 in 10 or more people that walked through your door?

You can see what proportion of people are visiting on what devices, use this information to put together a plan of how your site needs to be changed to suit those visitors.

Making it happen

Unless you are particularly tech savvy the best way to make it happen with the minimum of fuss and the maximum return is to approach a web agency with good experience in mobile website design and development.

Ask to see other recent sites they have built, check them out on your tablet and phone and see how well they work for you. Find a company that will speak to you in plain English terms and not bamboozle you with geek speak about media queries and responsive layouts.

Get a clear breakdown of the costs for each stage, what features your mobile site will have and what systems it will support. Once the site is built ensure you test it thoroughly before handing over any final payment.

In summary

Now is the right time to think about going mobile. As mobile usage starts to grow exponentially you can ensure that your website is ready to service this market and not miss out on potential new business.

If you would like to have a free consultation on your website and how to go mobile please contact Ivan on 1300 77 3569.