If nothing can convince businesses they’re dumb not to optimize Internet content for cell phones, consider the jaw-dropping 2000 percent growth in mobile-ready websites, as reported today by web mobilization tool providers dotMobi. Yes, that’s a two and three zeroes. Clearly, anyone who doesn’t try to reach customers with mobile content really are hand-delivering them to rival companies.
In its report, titled “Mobile Web Progress,” dotMobi found that the number of mobile websites grew from 150,000 in 2008 to 3.01 million in 2010, faster than the growth of websites viewed on desktop computers. Of the top 1,000 websites as ranked by the intelligence firm Alexa, 40.1 percent are mobile-friendly; of the top 10,000 sites, 29.7 percent.
Ronan Cremin, dotMobi’s Director of Engineering, pointed out something that’s easy to forget when marketers think it’s enough to have an app for a sexy handset like the iPhone or members of the Android smart phone family: “The mobile Web lets you address all of your mobile customers, not just those with iPhones and Android handsets,” he said in a release.
It absolutely makes more sense to ensure content is viewable on all Internet-capable cell phones. Mr. Cremin explained: “The study demonstrates that apps are shifting to become a part of a broader mobile Web strategy rather than the strategy itself. While some brands build individual apps for multiple platforms like iOS, Android and BlackBerry, businesses are increasingly choosing a mobile Web solution for their content… Brands can now build a single mobile Web presence that works across all mobile devices without the limitations, costs and maintenance issues of multiple app platforms.”
A major reason for this growth, dotMobi CEO Trey Harvin said in the release, is that the proliferation of tools now available that let any company–even a small business with a limited budget–optimize its content for mobile, like jQuery Mobile, DeviceAtlas and goMobi. “Companies that have focused on good mobile user experiences and mobile-friendly websites now have strong advantages in competing for visitors, sales, and customer loyalty. And these advantages are already positively impacting sales at their desktop websites.”
