If (like all businesses should) you have a website, it is becoming increasingly important to format your website for smartphones by using an M-site. Consider some of these stats from the youtube video "The Time for Mobile Is Now."
* Mobile search has grown by 400% in the past year
* 79% of large online advertisers do not have a mobile-optimized website
* 1 in 3 mobile searches have local intent
* 59% visit a local store after searching for it on the mobile web
and my personal favourite;
* 125 years of angry birds are played every day.
The desktop is quickly becoming extinct and laptops are not too far behind either. It's not hard to envisage a near future (if it is not already true) where the internet is accessed on smartphones and tablets more than it is on personal computers.
For the business owner it is a must do to create a mobile/micro site of your website.
Not sure what a M-site is?
type in http://m.tsn.ca/ in the browser on your personal computer and repeat on your smartphone.
Notice how the text is immediately readable on your smartphone screen and all the information you most often visit tsn.ca is readily available, one, or at most, two clicks away. Compare it to your own website and you will most likely notice that on a smartphone your page doesn't fit the screen well, your text is miniscule and some of the more advanced features of your website (drop downs, flash etc...) do not work or do not work as intended. This is why you need a M-site; so that the information you are conveying on your website is readily presented to people who are looking for you on their mobile internet devices.
A common excuse I hear as to why business owner's do not have an M-site is; I just spent thousands of dollars on my website a few years ago I can't spend that much again. Terrific because you don't have to. That's the great thing about M-sites is that they are for the most part, very inexpensive. Prices will vary widely but if your spending more than a couple hundred dollars on a design and more than $10 a month for hosting, you are getting a bad deal.
The key to remember with your M-site is, get the most important information across in as simple a manner as possible. Take out all the filler material, people who are looking for your business on a smartphone are far more likely to make a purchase that same day then if they are doing search at home. Don't confuse these potential customers just provide them with the what, how much and how to.
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