Why a Local Business Needs a Mobile Website
Filed under: Local Search, Mobile Web —
Doug Williams @
6:09 am
This blog entry was posted on February 9, 2009.
Most Internet searches from mobile phones are for local businesses. These are people looking for a restaurant to eat at, driving directions to a store or a movie schedule at the local theater. Sadly, most local businesses have not developed a website that can be viewed well on a cell phone. Mobile friendly websites are very different than those viewed on desk top computers.
Mobile Internet searches are growing
- Internet searches from mobile phones grew 104% in 2008 over 2007 in the US; this is according to ComScore.
- 40 million Americans or 16% of all U.S. mobile users, browse the Internet with their phone according to Nielsen Mobile.
- Over 50% of all Internet searches will happen from mobile devices by the year 2020 according to Pew Internet.
Why mobile websites have to be different.
- Variety of screen sizes: See the picture above. Screen sizes vary tremendously from the small 128 x 160 to the much larger 320 x 480 used by many of the smart phones with touch screens. Graphics from standard websites are way too large to fit on these screens.
- Fewer and smaller images: With smaller screens and the slower connection speeds, images must be eliminated or greatly reduced.
- Smaller pages need less text (Approx 50 words or less per page) and fewer pages. Content that is displayed, must be highly prioritized.
- Few cell phones support older web technologies such as Frames, tables or even Flash animations.
Mobile websites are generally specially designed to be compatible with the special requirements of mobile devices. Local businesses that are not adding mobile versions of their website, are missing out on a growing market segment.
Related posts:
Totally agree. And I think (like you pointed out) local businesses are really missing out if they don’t make a mobile version of their site.
Think about it – you’re a local restaurant. Why not make a mobile version of your site that quickly loads up daily hours, a menu and a link to a google map page?
Nice post…
Comment by Christian — February 9, 2009 @ 11:56 am
Great article Doug. How do you recommend companies implement their mobile plan on their website? Creating little mobile friendly website seem easier than figuring out how to integrate with an existing .com website. Do you have any advice?
Comment by Trent — February 9, 2009 @ 6:57 pm
Trent,
You can set-up a separate website for your business using a .MOBI domain extension. But when people search for your business from their mobile phone, they will likely find your primary website. That is why most companies are putting their mobile websites on a subdomain of their main website.
Comment by Doug Williams — February 9, 2009 @ 7:50 pm
[...] Why Local Business Needs Mobile-Ready Sites from Doug Williams [...]
Pingback by Internet Marketing Week in Review — December 21, 2009 @ 10:01 am