Tablet devices like the iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tablet, and Kindle Fire entered the market a few years ago and triggered a craze in all parts of the world. Urban consumers gave up their older phones for these ‘smart’ phones. Each new version incorporates the latest technology and brings new features. Studies have forecasted that 70% of Internet users will spend more time on their mobile phones than their desktops and laptops; by 2014, they will access the Internet using some mobile device because this allows them to stay connected wherever they may be. Internet browsing is a different experience on a mobile device.

Mobile

Reasons for having a Mobile Website

If the same website designed for a desktop or laptop is used for mobiles, it doesn’t mean the user experience will be the same. Here are the top 4 reasons that make a Mobile Website necessary for companies and businesses:

Reason #1 – Screen Size

Smartphones have a much smaller screen size than computers to allow for portability. The typical resolution of 1280×1024 on a laptop is brought down to 480×320 on a mobile device. This often means difficulty navigating websites that are not compatible with mobile

devices. Since traditional desktop websites have a width of 960 pixels, the text in its original format is not legible; zooming in and out, if at all permissible for a particular website, and scrolling up and down and back and forth sideways can be frustrating. Simply scaling down the web page content does not always work because the user’s fingers remain the same size. How often have you pressed the wrong link and struggled to navigate back to the

original page? A good mobile website will be thumb-friendly, which means the buttons and links will be big enough for the human fingers to navigate properly. A website specifically designed for mobile devices will offer a better customer experience, resulting in increased sales leads and more revenue.

Reason #2 – Speed

Mobile devices cannot keep up with most computers’ processing and Internet data transfer speeds and response times. Companies tend to overlook this significant fact when they maintain a single website common to both users. A separate website design is required to cater to these lower technical specifications of smartphones,

with pictures and video content optimized for these devices. Any web page that takes more than 10 to 15 seconds to load will lose 95% of its viewers to a faster competitor website. High browsing speeds make customers happy, increasing the chance of them returning to your website, Travel Knowledge.

Reason #3 – Money

In 2009, a staggering 1.6 billion dollars was spent on purchasing products over the Internet through mobile devices. Now that more than 93% of adults in the United States own at least one cellphone enabled with Internet access, online spending from mobile devices would have shot up much higher. Just imagine the sales that a company can

generate by tapping into this large market segment. The main objective is to make money; this is done by having a wider customer base. A mobile-enabled website is required to engage, convert, and retain many potential customers today by providing them with the information they need with ease of navigation. Hence,

getting a mobile website is the way to success for any company. The cost of designing a separate website is negligible compared to the profits it can rake in. Yes, every new website needs to be hosted individually so that a separate hosting fee will apply for the traditional website targeted at computer users and the new-age

website targeted at users of mobile devices. But this still is a minimal overhead cost. What’s more, no special knowledge is required; web design companies can be hired to get the new website up and running with the click of a finger.

Reason #4 – Location

For websites that offer some product or service, mobile users who access its pages are ready to make the purchase or booking immediately in most cases. They may be checking to confirm the exact address. In all probability, they are somewhere close to the physical store or even inside it already! Local searches are gaining popularity, and customers are coming to

expect this from companies. Smartphones and tablets are equipped with in-built GPS systems that allow the mobile device to track the user’s exact location. Search engines use this to pick up companies that match the search criteria and are within the user’s vicinity at the time of the search. This information is picked up from the company profile registered on a site like Google Places. To exploit this facility, contact details and other

location-specific information are of utmost importance for a company’s mobile website. The physical address and telephone number need to be displayed on every page at a prominent location. While heavy images are not encouraged on mobile websites to support faster speeds, maps are highly recommended as they can bring customers to your

premises. Providing a feature to check the available stock at a particular branch of a company is a way of telling the customer that this company means business and is concerned about the customer’s convenience at the same time. The potential customer also needs to know your working hours. They wouldn’t like to come all the way and find the store closed. Timing information is also very much needed on a mobile website.

Despite all these wonderful reasons why a mobile website is the need of the hour, a minimal number of businesses and companies have invested time and money into designing one. Ironically, industry sectors that could benefit the most from this shift in

sales approach have the smallest percentage of mobile-enabled websites. Sadly, they still rely on their websites made for computers, assuming that it suffices if they can be accessed on a mobile device.

As we have just seen, nothing could be further from the truth. These are only a few of the reasons to have a mobile website. With the way technology is moving, you cannot afford not to have a specifically designed website for mobile devices.

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