Mobile web traffic has quickly become one of the fastest growing segments for businesses. More & more people rely on mobile devices to conduct transactions using their smart-phones, tablets, iPads and even an ebooks. As Marketers, we have to be ready to reach consumers all day, every day.

Many companies are already catering to mobile consumers by offering direct updates via text, mobile apps and/or mobile optimized websites, while others haven’t developed a mobile strategy yet.

Does my business really need a mobile site?

If your business is having trouble deciding whether to develop a mobile optimized version of your current website, our Analytics consultants suggest looking at your web traffic to see what portion of your audience is coming from mobile devices. By leveraging the “Mobile Traffic” default segment in Google Analytics, it’s possible to compare mobile traffic to non-mobile traffic, determine important trends, set different report metrics, as well as see the specific types of devices visitors are using to visit your site.

If a good portion of traffic is coming from mobile devices and consequently seems to have a much higher bounce-rate, it is probably time for a mobile site.

What is the difference between a standard website and a mobile website?

 Unlike standard websites, mobile websites are designed to cater to mobile device capabilities. Mobile optimized site elements include:

• Scaled down, easy to read content with simplified navigation
• Mobile specific landing pages without Flash, over-sized images, video
• Clear calls to action at the top of the mobile site so the user does not have to scroll
• Touch friendly interface with buttons that are large enough to click on with your fingertip
• Images with alt tags just in case the page is slow loading
• Provide a link to your traditional website for users who want the full site capabilities

It seems that every year is called the year for mobile, but 2011 definitely lived up to the hype. In a recent Google Analytics blog, it was reported that during the last few months of the year, mobile traffic quickly rose by 40% and that overall traffic is continuing to grow.

It’s time for your business to capture the mobile piece of pie before it gets eaten up by your competitors.

The images below show how we modified our standard home page (on the left) to create a mobile website that’s optimized for mobile users.