Smart phones - What does it mean for your business?
For many years now the world has been getting smaller, more mobile and as a result more personal. The Internet has played a huge part, but today it is shifting. With the increasing sales of Smartphones, more and more people are using their mobile phones to solve their everyday problems. Such as, sending e-mails, updating Facebook or Twitter and to search for local products and services on the internet via the only electronic device that they carry everywhere - their Mobile phones.
In essence, Smartphones, such as iPhone, Blackberry and Android, are changing attitudes to how we all interact and how we spend our money. More Smartphones are being sold than PC’s and Laptops and it’s estimated that very soon the Mobile web will eclipse the desktop web altogther. This means that it is massively important for companies to develop a mobile strategy where their customers can easily view their company information on a mobile phone and connect with them.
Most Websites can appear broken when viewed on a Smartphone
Ordinary websites designed for desktop computers when viewed on a mobile phone, appear too small and unreadable. Even then the information is scattered and the site is arguably unusable. Mobile users want to find information fast and take action. What does your current website look like when viewed on a Smartphone and what does it say about your company?
According to a June 2011 Google Survey, “A poor Mobile web experience can negatively shape a consumer’s opinion of your brand or your company altogether.” Smartphone users are unlikely to return to a website that they had trouble accessing, but they are more likely to stay and interact or buy from a company that has catered for their experience and had given them a User Interface that they could actually use.
"Speed" is the word
You won’t have to wait much longer than 6 or 7 seconds for a Mobile website to load, but you could wait up to 30 seconds for an ordinary website to on a Smartphone. How many mobile customers are going to have the patience to wait before they visit a competitor’s mobilised site?
Do you want your mobile customers to know more about you, your opening hours and how to find you? Smartphones are touch sensitive and mobile websites are built in such a way as to only give a user the information that they need – fast. Furthermore, a “click to call” button can open a line to telephone your company with just a touch on the Smartphone screen and a similar e-mail button can open up the users e-mail client for another way to connect with you.
Businesses are already seeing the benefits of the Mobile web and no business is excluded. From Plumbers to Accountants, and from Solicitors to Retailers, all need to develop a mobile website strategy. Consumers are increasingly doing and spending more time on their Smartphone. A BBC News article recently stressed that 50% of all searches for local products and services are done from a mobile phone. If 2011 belonged to the importance of being on Twitter and Facebook, 2012 will be your company’s time to get on the Mobile web to catch the growing army of Smartphone addicts and turn their habits into pounds.
Article by: Paul Wykes, Smartwebapps