It’s amazing how often I still hear people saying that they don’t need a mobile strategy for their business or website. They say things like “it doesn’t apply to my industry” or of course “we just can’t afford it right now”. But the fact of the matter is that anyone doing anything online needs a solid mobile strategy. It applies to every industry, and if you think you can’t afford it, you need to figure out how to raise the funds, because the longer you put it off the more money you could be losing.

So if you’re not convinced yet, here are a few reasons why it is imperative to invest in mobile:

1. You’re losing traffic to your website
I keep close tabs on my clients’ website traffic and I can tell you right now that every website I track has grown to receive anywhere from 8-20% (sometimes more!) of their website traffic from mobile phones. This is not even including tablets! To put this in perspective, if you are averaging 1000 visits per month, between 80 and 200 are viewing your content on their phones. If the experience is bad, those mobile visitors may move on to a competitor’s site. These numbers are only going to grow as time goes on, so it is imperative to address your mobile strategy now.

2. Consumers Expect It
Like it or not, people expect content to be accessible and usable on their mobile phones. If someone accesses your website and finds that it is not optimized for their device or that it is difficult to use, the may leave your site or even take your organization less seriously.

3. Mobile Offers New Opportunities
Something many businesses, organizations and site owners overlook about a mobile strategy is that it transcends just duplicating a desktop site with a different user interface. Mobile phone users interact with content differently than desktop computer users. For starters, a phone goes wherever the user goes and offers location based opportunities for users and site owners alike. Mobile phones are also more personalized devices than most desktop systems which provides opportunities for more personal online experiences. Keeping the nature of mobile user behavior in mind when developing a mobile strategy can actually open unique opportunities not available on traditional websites and in traditional marketing engagements.

4. It’s More Affordable Than You Might Think
The “I can’t afford it” argument is pretty lame in my humble opinion. This is because developing a website for mobile doesn’t need to be an outrageously expensive affair. I think that the App craze has created a lot of misinformation regarding cost since native phone apps are proprietary, development-heavy endeavors that can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars to create. Though sometimes a smart investment, most businesses don’t actually need a native mobile app. Whether updating your whole website to be responsive or creating a dedicated mobile site, the cost can actually be very reasonable, and a fantastic investment in your organization’s technology strategy. At Nerdy House Media we have some great mobile web design services and very fair prices. Drop us a line for a quote!

5. Mobile Websites Are Cool!
Let’s face it. Mobile and responsive websites are pretty cool! It feels good to pull your website up on your smartphone and see how great everything looks and functions on that crisp little screen. As mentioned before, it adds a lot of credibility to your brand, and, at the end of the day, an impressed consumer is an easy sale.

Hopefully if you weren’t considering building a mobile website before reading this, you’ve moved a little closer to that conclusion after. If you still have any questions about what the best mobile strategy is for your brand, we’d love to chat, so email or call and we’ll take the time to explain your options.