Ready or Not the Mobile Web is Here
The mobile web is here, whether we are ready or not!
There has been a lot of talk over the past couple years about how many people own mobile devices and how much time people spend on them.
Indeed, look at some overall numbers:
- There are presently 5.3 billion mobile device subscribers.
- There will be nearly as many mobile devices as there are people in the world by 2015.
- There are 48 million people in the world who have mobile phones, even though they do not have electricity at home.
- SMS (text messaging) traffic is expected to break 8 trillion in 2011.
So everyone has a mobile device. What’s the big deal? What does this matter to our website optimization or online marketing efforts?
The following numbers reveal the impact more clearly:
- By 2012, almost all mobile devices produced will be able to access the Internet.
- There will be 788 million mobile-only Internet users by 2015.
- By 2014, mobile Internet browsing will surpass desktop browsing.
- Mobile ad revenue will sky rocket to $20.6 billion by 2015.
- Shopping on the mobile web will reach $119 billion in 2015.
Now the issue is not that everyone has a mobile device, but that they all have Internet access via that device—many of them access the web only through their mobile device. More importantly, they are taking advantage of that access by searching, purchasing, and clicking through on mobile ads at unprecedented rates.
This is great news for those of us who market on the Internet. But it can be equally bad news for those who are not prepared for this mobile opportunity.
Imagine that someone visits your website from their mobile device and your site loads so slowly the user just moves on to the next site in their search results. Or, perhaps your site eventually loads, but with no images and with a gaping hole where that spiffy piece of Flash you paid so much for is supposed to play. Or worse, the user receives a message from their browser informing them that your site cannot be viewed on their mobile device. These are very possible scenarios for a website that is not mobile-ready.
There are many things you can do to get your existing website ready for the mobile web, as well as other tactics you can use to market within the mobile web. Stay tuned as we explore these tactics in more detail…
This excerpt was paraphrased from The Boostrapper’s Guide to the Mobile Web by SMC Webinar facilitator, Deltina Hay, and was originally posted at her blog, Mobile Web Slinger.
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Internet Marketing Standards Board
I absolutely agree with your observation and prediction that in the future,e- commerce will be conducted more through a mobile device. Mobile devices let its users carry out their tasks anywhere, anytime. However, do u think companies are ready to tackle the shift from full website size to mobile web? How much would it cost companies to customize their website for a mobile device? Will the benefit of having mobile site cover the cost of its realization? On the other hand, by creating mobile site companies can have more targeted people for advertising personalized specifically for them. By doing so companies can spend marketing budget effectively.
Obviously there will be challenges for companies have to face to implement mobile web. In terms of technology, it is already there in the market. Companies just need their developers to create mobile landing page from their existing full size website. One of the newer method is known as responsive web design. Responsive web design lets companies serve same site based on devise specs without creating separate sites for each device. The increasing support for html5 in browsers would also help companies achieve that goal, I guess.
I believe the biggest challenge lies on the retailers and advertisers to figure out what consumers truly need and then drive them to a change in behavior. That may be a winning formula.
Lenny,
These are all very good points. At this time, there are a lot of options available for businesses to get mobile ready. You mention responsive design – that is one of my favorite solutions since it does not force one to create an entirely new site, just a new style sheet to accommodate mobile devices.
For those who don’t program, there are some nice services out there like gomobi, mofuse, and wirenode that can help a site have a mobile optimized presence without a lot of cost or development. For larger sites that have a lot invested in SEO, however, I recommend using a conversion service like bMobilized.
Another great point you make is about mobile optimized landing pages. When doing PPC advertising for the mobile web, it is imperative that companies make certain their landing pages are mobile ready.
I plan to write a whole lot more about the mobile web here in the coming months, so please check back.
Also, please check out my new site, http://thebootstrappersguide.com, as it has many resources I am sure your students will find quite useful!
Deltina