Philadelphia Web Analytics Symposium November 2 & Future of the Mobile Web

This past Wednesday, both the CEO Daniel Laws and Web Analyst Brandon Wensing of DaBrian Marketing Group were able to attend the Web Analytics Symposium at the Philadelphia Ritz-Carlton, hosted by the Web Analytics Association. We were able to sit in on some very interesting lectures and presentations by industry legends like Jim Sterne covering the latest in Web Analytics, as well as the importance of Analytics as a whole as the internet evolves. In addition to the fantastic presentations, the symposium was also a great opportunity for DMG to network with all sorts of Web Analytics and Marketing professionals from all over the northeast region of the United States.

One particular point that came up across a large portion of the presentations on Wednesday was the increasing importance of mobile with regards to the web. This tied directly with countless conversations that have occurred within the walls of the DaBrian Marketing office, as we've felt for a while that companies need to put more emphasis on monitoring and expanding their mobile offerings. If you missed the WAA Symposium on Wednesday, check out our latest YouTube video below. Also be sure to subscribe to both our blog here and our YouTube channel for weekly updates on trends, practices, tactics, and more!

Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Mobile Accessibility of Your Website

One of the most common mistakes made in the web and e-commerce worlds is the dismissal of the importance of mobile-friendly websites. Mobile activity on the web is increasing exponentially every day as more and more consumers trade their laptops and desktops for smartphones and tablets. Society wants to be mobile and less constricted by the ball-and-chain of cables and cords, yet there are still countless websites that fail to accommodate for this properly.

So what excuse is there NOT to optimize your website for mobile visitors? Web Analytics data and reports have proven this traffic has been increasing hand-over-fist every day. Further analysis even indicates these visitors are trying to access what they need and engage with the website (multiple pages viewed per visit), however they tend to leave before they actually convert. A glance to the average amount of time that they spend on the website compared to normal traffic provides a clear picture of just how much trouble they’re having. If the time they spend is significantly more, it means they’re finding the use of the website difficult or perhaps load times are taking a lot longer than they should because of large images.

More often than not, however, the decision makers will not make a move on a mobile solution based upon website performance metrics alone. That’s when you take a look at the market statistics and demographics. The visual below (from the article located here) shows the breakdown of tablet users according to their social status as well as which age groups they are from:

Keep in mind, the visual above is only covering the tablet users, which is only a segment of the total mobile visitors out there. Even more people have smartphones than tablet devices. The performance metrics are there. The demographical data is there. Don’t ignore the writing on the walls! Optimize your website for mobile!

Don’t Get Left Behind—Mobilize

According to research conducted by Google, “over half of all Americans will own a smartphone” by the end of 2011. As a result, consumers will be more likely to use their smartphones to make online purchases. Therefore, businesses must respond to this trend by creating mobile-optimized sites. Mobile-optimized sites provide users with a version of the full website that is more easily used on smartphones. Often, the version of a full website contains numerous links, small text, small clickable areas, and many images. These elements make for a difficult and frustrating experience on a mobile users behalf—so much so, that the user may leave your website.

On the other hand, mobile-optimized sites contain fewer images to decrease load time, tabs that allow for easy navigation, large clickable areas, and categories that enable consumers to narrow their search. Because of these features, the consumer may more easily access your business’ information, service, and/or product. Furthermore, Mobile-optimized sites often contain links to the business’ social media pages such as Facebook and Twitter accounts, thereby creating more exposure for your company.

As a result of the increase of smartphone users, it is crucial for all businesses, small and large, to create a mobile-optimized website or they will be left behind.