Photo by William Hook
A mobile business is no longer a luxury, a shift your business can afford to put off. Why? Globally, there were as many as 6.8 billion mobile subscriptions at the end of 2012, according to MobiThinking. The rise in the numbers of people relying on mobile devices to communicate with family, friends, colleagues and retailers has grown significantly. In 2010, there were 5.4 billion mobile subscriptions. More people are using mobile devices than land line telephones, a tool that’s looking more and more like a dinosaur.
More reasons why it’s smart to invest in a mobile business
A mobile business potentially puts you in front of millions of prospects. Increase in mobile device usage doesn’t only spell changes for the stationary telephone market, it also spells changes for desktop websites. Pixel displays and screen sizes are smaller on mobile devices, demanding that web designers adjust their websites to fit smaller mobile device screens. This includes e-book readers, Blackberries, smartphones and notepads.
For example, a desktop screen might be 21.5 inches wide, while the screen on a mobile device like the Apple iPhone 4s’s screen is only 3.5 inches wide. Clearly, a website that’s designed only for a wide screen desktop is not going to show up well on a mobile device. A single line on the website could wrap for up to 6 or more lines on a mobile device.
How many mobile device subscribers do you think are going to hang around your website, exploring your products and services if they have to read through hundreds, perhaps thousands of lines of text?
How you can take your website mobile
To convert your website for mobile devices, you can hire a website designer to handle the back work for you. You could also use mobile website converter software and build your mobile site yourself. You can do this whether you built your desktop website using WordPress, Bravehost or another design program. As a tip, if you already have a website, consider simply converting the site. This will save you the time and effort of building a mobile website from scratch.
The numbers of mobile website converters have been growing over the last several months. Some converters are:
- Dudamobile.com (They offer a free version and a paying version. As of June 2013, Dudamobile’s paying version was $9 a month. Pick the free version, and you’ll mobile site is going to come with ads. Regardless of the version you go with, it’s as simple as typing in your URL to get started).
- Dotnetnuke (Their front face is less simple than Dudamobile’s, but it might be worth a try.)
- bMobilized (They offer a 7 day free trial to help you develop a mobile business. It’s as simple as typing in your URL to get started.)
- Mobile Web America (Offers a free service, again all you have to do is type in the URL of the website you want to convert for a mobile device to get started.)
- Convert Website Mobile (You can build or simply convert a desktop website for mobile devices using this program.)
YouTube guides also show you how to convert your desktop website for mobile devices, listing step-by-step instructions. There really is no reason to not convert your websites. It’s fast, simple and easy. And if you work with the right programs, it’s also free. When you consider that smartphone usage grew by 81% in 2012 alone, it makes good business sense.
Furthermore, MobiThinking reports that, “Of people who react to seeing a mobile ad: 42 percent click on the mobile ad; 35 percent visit the advertiser’s site; 32 percent search for more information on their phone; 49 percent make a purchase and 27 percent call the business.”
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Sources:
http://www.edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2013/03/13-impressive-statistics-about-mobile-device-use (Ed Tech: 13 Impressive Statistics About Mobile Device Use)
http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats (MobiThinking: Global Mobile Statistics 2013)
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