Before going any further, let me be clear on one thing. If you own a business in this day and age, you need a website. If for some reason you haven’t figured this out yet, stop reading this blog and go get one. (And when I say website, I don’t mean Facebook page.)
If you’re a business owner and you DO have a website, congratulations, you obviously want your company to succeed. A thriving business has to have some real estate in the World Wide Web if it wants to survive. However, times are changing, and simply having a website as your anchor in the virtual world might not cut it anymore. The reason? Everyone is going mobile.
Smart phones and tablets are changing everything about the way people connect to the Internet. Currently, about half of all Internet traffic comes from a mobile device. This means that more and more people are surfing the web from an iPhone instead of an iMac, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down. By 2017, we’ll actually see mobile traffic surpass desktop traffic by roughly 20 percent.
Going Mobile Means Better Business
If you’re still fairly green to the tech world you might ask, “But I already have a website, why do I need to get another one? Can’t someone just look at my site from their phone?”
Well, technically yes, but it’s a painful, miserable experience. Traditional websites are meant to be viewed on a computer, not a tiny smartphone screen, so they don’t translate well. With a mobile browser, a website takes longer to load, and is significantly more difficult to navigate, because you spend half your time resizing and scrolling. That’s the kind of hassle that your business can’t afford, because it will cost you potential customers, and that’s not speculation.
It has been reported that 74 percent of mobile users will abandon a website and never return if it takes longer than five seconds to download. Bottom line: If your company’s online presence isn’t mobile friendly, then you’re risking going out of business. Luckily, adapting to the mobile revolution isn’t all that difficult, and there are a few different ways to do it.
Mobile websites tend to be the “traditional” route. A mobile site is basically your original website cut down to run on a smartphone or tablet. When someone logs on through their mobile device, they’ll immediately be rerouted to your mobile site.
Apps are another option, though they tend to be more limited and work best for productive action (online banking, shopping, etc) instead of showcasing content. Truth be told, an app cannot and should not substitute a mobile site. However, depending on the nature of your business, pairing the two could prove to be very beneficial.
Responsive Design: Is It Right For You?
serious headway in the tech world. It’s called Responsive Web Design (RWD). Never heard of it? Don’t feel bad. Despite its rising prominence, a lot of people still haven’t quite caught on. Saving the tech speak, a responsive website is designed to adapt to the device from which it’s being viewed. Rather than having a separate mobile site, you get one flexible website that will automatically reconfigure itself from a desktop layout to one that is compatible with a tablet or smartphone.
Responsive Web Design has been lauded as the most cost effective and user-friendly option in web design, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for your company. As a business owner, you decide what works best for you. The most important thing is having that mobile connection.
Like it or not, this is the world we live in. If you can’t manage to stay ahead of the curve, at least stay neck and neck with it. The future is mobile. Take advantage now, and get a mobile website. It’s the right choice.
