If you haven’t, you should. You’d be surprised at how different it looks, not to mention the loss of functionality. A research recently conducted by 1&1, one of the largest web hosting companies in the world, shows that 50% of the companies they questioned had never checked their site on a mobile device. Its time they woke up and smelled the Apples.

Having a mobile ready site is just as important as making sure your site looks the same in all popular web browsers. Here are a few things you should keep in mind when planning for a mobile ready site:

Why should I change my site for mobiles?

Websites are generally designed to be viewed on large screens(15″+). So when viewed on a 2-4″ screen, you can expect a lot difference in how a site appears on your mobile. It will have to be redesigned to make sure it has the intended look and functionality on the mobile device. If your site requires additional plugins to work, you cannot expect all mobiles to support them. So the site will have to be designed so that it requires only those plugins available on mobiles. Want to find out how mobile ready your site currently is? You can test it at ready.mobi

What are the advantages of having a mobile ready site?

The next time your in a public place, take a look around. There’s a good chance you’ll see more than one person browsing the web on a mobile device. Having a mobile ready site improves the chances of people discovering your business online. There is a whole generation of people on mobile devices, so with a mobile ready site, you can extend your current customer base that does business via your website. Customers are always looking for the easiest and quickest way to get things done, having a mobile ready site means your services are available at their fingertips. Another option you could go for is a mobile app.

What is a mobile app?

It is simply an application designed to work on mobile devices. If you are providing a certain service from your website, you can also do the same via a mobile app. These are generally designed for specific phones, thus making them easier to use, taking advantage of the available features on that phone. The easier it is for your customers to work the app, the more likely they are going to keep using it. Many companies provide mobile application development services, or you can try building it yourself.

About the Author:

Hamish joined Bobcares in July of 2004, and since then has grown to be well versed in the Control Panels and Operating systems used in the Web Hosting industry today. He is highly passionate about Linux and is a great evangelist of open-source. When not at work, he keeps himself busy populating this blog with both technical and non-technical posts. When he is not on his Xbox, he is an avid movie lover and critic