The last few years have been extremely exciting for us computer nerds. In such a short period of time we’ve seen desktop computers evolve into areas even science fiction couldn’t predict. Inside the majority of our pockets is a computer more powerful than those that were sent with the Apollo Boys of NASA to the Moon.
With mobile devices, people are now connected to the hip to the largest community that the world has ever built, the internet. Changes that were once seen as “decades away” are less like a mirage in the distance, and more like a mere stones throw away. Bob Dylan famously sung how times are changing, but even the drug induced creative thoughts of the 60’s & 70’s couldn’t have predicted how quickly. It’s time for our first lesson in awesomeness – Get your $h%^ mobile ready!
“But what do you mean…” you might ask. Fair question I say! You have a website for yourself or your business. You’re tracking visitors with Google Analytics. Heck, you’ve even got your business on Twitter & Facebook and are building a good sized following. People think your business is pretty cool. Your brand is new, but it’s already proving itself as a high fiving, friendly and approachable group. That’s great! You need to be congratulated for that, because you’re already standing out from the crowd. You’re ahead of the curve. But the curve is changing, and there’s still work to be done. See what I mean:
Infographic by Microsoft Tag
These statistics are wild enough that they may need re-reading a couple times. Take your time! Basically to sum it all up, the mobile web is getting crazy popular, if you’re sharing anything on the internet, it’s in your best interest to have it ready for mobile traffic. There will come a day (and some say it already has) when people visit a website on their iPhone or Blackberry expect a mobile version of the content they’re reading. If mobile users are expected to pinch & zoom around your page, or bounce around left to right with that annoying scroll wheel, you might as well hand your traffic and leads to your competitors. You could have the most original content out there, with interesting points that people NEED to know about. But if they can’t access that information easily, and intuitively, you’re screwed.
As geeks, it’s easy for us to talk about the newest technologies. But talk is cheap, and we have to start getting behind this technology too. Practice what we preach and become the shining example that helps bring people & businesses to the front-lines of mobile internet. We’ve already had success in getting mobile-ready websites ready (See DalGazette.com, or my own personal Canadian travel blog), but there’s still work to do, and I have to admit, I’m incredibly excited for it!
Need more mobile statistics to blow your mind? Check out the video below!