Is Mobile Website Design The Future of Business Internet Marketing?

Mobile website design — that is to say, the conscious (re)designing of a business website so that it can be easily accessed from mobile devices — is a very commonplace option for small businesses who want to get the most from their internet marketing. Why? Because mobile searchers are generally speaking on the road, which means if they’re searching for a business in your vertical, they’re likely to go there once they find it. That means mobile traffic is synonymous with foot traffic, which is in turn synonymous with sales.

On the internet, you’re doing really well if you convert 4% of your surfers into customers. If you can get them in the door of a brick-and-mortar store, that conversion rate jumps into the 80%s instantly. Thus, mobile website design.

But are businesses that advertise on the internet really best off paying for a mobile website? Or is there a more ‘affordable’ SEO activity they could be pursuing? The answer depends on a lot of factors, including your geography, your vertical, and the content of your website.

In short, the more densely populated (and tech-savvy) your locale, the more you’ll benefit from mobile website design. The more tech-oriented or tech-friendly your vertical, the more you’ll benefit from mobile website design. The more ‘immediate’ your vertical (in other words, the more likely someone is to realize they need your stuff right now), the more you’ll benefit from mobile website design. And the more complex your normal website, the more you’ll benefit from mobile website design.

If you happen to combine a few of those factors — say, you sell batteries for gizmos from a store in the San Fernando Valley — you’ll see the benefits of a mobile website (and a touch of local business SEO) almost immediately.

For the majority of businesses with an online presence, mobile website design is a darn good idea. Is it the future of business internet marketing as a whole? Let’s ask again once you can get an iPhone for under a hundred bucks — because as the capacity to do mobile searches improves (and it just keeps improving) mobile websites become a better and better deal.