Having a mobile optimized version of your website has become increasingly important with 63.2 million people now accessing the Internet through mobile devices, with 35% of those going online every day, according to figures released by ComScore.  “Social networking and blogging have emerged as very popular daily uses of the mobile Web and these activities are growing at a torrid pace,” added Mark Donovan, senior vice president of comScore’s mobile division.

As shown below, women and people between 35 and 54 are most apt to perform social networking activities via mobile device, according to data from The Nielsen Company.  When considering optimizing your website for your current customer demographics the below stats are helpful because social networking is a large element of mobile usage; however, keep in mind how fast this technology and adoption is moving.  If your customer demographic is over 54 years of age do not completely discount optimizing your website for mobile usage.

When considering optimizing your website for mobile devices also keep in mind that each mobile device displays the web differently.  Based on current stats and mobile devices you need to focus on iPhone (60% market share), Android (20% market share), and then possibly Blackberry / RIM (10% market share).  We say possibly Blackberry because of its decreasing mobile internet usage.  Blackberry is reported to release a better internet browser functionality during later part of 2010 and when that occurs we may see Blackberry RIM usage increase.  As shown below, Android is making steady gains, overtaking RIM both in the US and worldwide.

Google reports that in 2009, 50% of new internet connections originated from cell phones.  Google’s research also shows that as mobile internet speeds get faster, web browsing using a cell phone becomes more common and the trend is clear – mobile internet connections and use are increasing at an exponential rate.

Most likely your regular website will provide a poor experience for those using mobile phones and this can be confirmed by reviewing your website analytics from those visiting your site from mobile phones.  With our clients, who are in many different types of industries, see a 50  – 70 % bounce rate increase from mobile usage vs. traditional web visitors.  So there are 2 things you must do immediately:

1. Your Website Mobile Experience – Pull up your website on mobile devices and click around.  Ask yourself if this is an experience you want for your users? Make special note of download speeds, image resolution, navigation and usability. If you don’t have a mobile web based phone, such as an Android head over to your nearest cell phone store, such as Verizon and AT&T, and pull up your website.
2. Usage and Bounce Rate – We recommend you review your Website analytics to get a sense of how many people are looking at your site today through mobile and what is the current bounce rate.

Mobile optimized sites are definitely a build it and they will come strategy so even if your current mobile usage is low you need to consider planning for the future. As shown below, we took a snapshot from Google Analytics mobile section and it is very easy to see how many people are visiting your site and from what type of devices:

Almost every website can benefit from a mobile version of their site; however, there are several sites that benefit more than others based off the Comscore research shared earlier:

1. Local Businesses – From a search engine perspective, there are specific indexing algorithms for mobile websites so if you do not have an optimized mobile site you are missing out on local and mobile search rankings.  For example, Google Mobile Web Search crawls and indexes sites that have been specifically designed for mobile phones and devices. Users can search the mobile web on their mobile devices using Google Mobile Web Search. Local restaurants, retail and other local businesses can benefit significantly from a mobile website as they can have another efficient and customer friendly way to communicate.  Yelp.com is one of the most popular local review websites and have created a great mobile experience that you can check out to get some ideas.
2. News and Blogs — You want to make sure that your viewers and audience has the most amount of up to date information as possible.  The mobile site can help you accomplish this goal.
3. E-Commerce Sites — Like Amazon.com mobile, you need to make sure that your customers can review and purchase products from your website.  A recent study by Coda Research agency has revealed that mobile eCommerce in the US shall grow at a compounded rate of 65% between 2009 and 2015. According to this study, mobile phones will constitute 8.5% of all eCommerce revenues in the US and in 2010 this is estimated to be a $2.420 billion business.

So hopefully you are now convinced that maybe it is time you create a mobile experience for your users.  Please check out these 2 great articles for creating mobile optimized sites as each helped me in my research and are full of additional information:

• How to Write Web Pages for the iPhone and Other Wireless Devices (About.com)
• Eight tips to keep your mobile website readers happy

There will soon be a time when designing a mobile version of a site will be a must and that time is probably just around the corner. The information above was intended to provide updated stats on where mobile is currently at and to give you a sense of where it is headed.  Please use the comments below and share your tips for mobile optimization and any questions you have. I’m eager to learn from you as well!

Connect with iClick Solutions website, blog, RSS, Twitter, or Facebook

Related posts:

1. Mobile is the future: Facebook Mobile Usage Surpasses 150 Millions Users
2. Google Buys Mobile Social Site Zingku
3. Best Internet Marketing News Of The Week May 31 2010