With the huge popularity of devices such as smartphones and tablets around the world, mobile is now the preferred way many people get online. Hence, it is essential that your small business has a mobile-friendly site to make it easy for people to find you.

Industry forecasts predict that there will be 1.7 billion mobile internet users by this year. And it’s a pretty safe bet that at least a few of them are visiting your site, and seeing it on a screen that takes up just a few inches.

So, having said all that, do you know what your website looks like on a mobile phone? Just because you can see your site on a smartphone doesn’t mean that it’s mobile-friendly. Do you have to pinch and zoom to read what’s on screen? Can you easily click to get to where you want to go without hitting the wrong link? 

Answers to questions like these can help determine if the people visiting your website on mobile devices can easily complete what they intend to do, such as making a purchase or contacting you.

Why is a Mobile Strategy Important?
Your business needs to be where your customers are. And, increasingly, they’re on mobile devices. A recent study found that 40 percent of users have clicked over to a competitor’s site after having a bad mobile experience. So it’s critical that you make a good mobile impression.

A good mobile site can be great for business. Mobile-friendly sites are purposely made for the small screen and aren’t just shrunken down versions of your regular website. Simplicity is also key, since good mobile sites are quick, simple to navigate, easy to read, have large buttons, and prioritise key information.

In addition, mobile-optimised sites take advantage of the natural capabilities of smartphones and other mobile devices. Features like click-to-call, maps, and location information are perfect for mobile, and are common best practices for mobile-friendly sites. These features help connect customers directly to your business and drive more calls and traffic to your store.

How to go Mobile?

1. Before you go mobile, make sure your site is mobile compliant. You need the pages to load properly in mobile devices.
2. Create a mobile sitemap so the search engines can index your pages for mobile browsers.
3. Use few words and small graphics. People don't read much on mobiles and they want the data to come quickly.
4. Make sure you give readers the choice of viewing the standard site as well.
5. Make sure you offer readers clear and distinct ways to get to your most important content.
6. When your site is being viewed on a much smaller screen, make sure you have compelling headlines that let the reader know she’s going to have a great experience reading this content.
7. Provide clear content that gets right to the point also assures readers can digest your material on their mobile devices, even while they’re distracted and busy.
8. Images are a great way to get a point across or break up text, but just try to imagine someone reading your content on a really slow connection with a tiny little screen.
9. All arguments aside about the relevance of Flash, it is generally a safe bet that not all mobile devices will be able serve up either of these technologies. Even if they do, it tends to be an extra step or two to actually view the content.
10.  Keep in mind the whitespace around paragraphs and words. If your content is so cramped that it makes readers physically uncomfortable, they might not hang out for very long.

If you are using a smartphone based on Windows Phone 8 and would want to check up your websites stats on the go, the Phonealytics Free is the right place to start. With Phonealytics you get all the important traffic stats for your website available in your pocket. Phonealytics focuses on providing information at a glance and in line with your phones theme.

Download Your Free Website Analytics Tool: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/phonealytics-free/21baf298-210a-4fe1-9a89-6314ae62151f