A new research report predicts that mobile phones will outstrip PCs as the most common way to search the web by 2013. This is because it is expected that the number of mobile smartphones and browser equipped enhanced phones will outstrip the number of PCs.
Its a fairly aggressive projection but if it were to occur, it would mean that web publishers will need to reformat their sites to suit handheld devices. Currently, many sites are not optimized for mobile web.
By 2014, the research firm Gartner estimates that 3 billion users will be able to conduct electronic transactions via mobile or Internet technology. By 2015, it expects that delivering personalized user experiences to smartphones will be as critical to as search engines are to the web. While search is about “pulling” information, these personalized experiences will involve “pushing” information based on observing patterns such as location and social interactions.
These predictions mean one thing – opportunity! A couple of opportunities for businesses that spring to mind are:
- Start optimizing your site to embrace smart phone browsers
- Start planning for ways to provide more personalised experiences for users. Think new offerings like Google’s “Near me now” feature.
Fortunately, web publishers who use wordpress have some help at hand. There is a nifty little mobile phone pack plugin that helps optimise your site for mobile phone technology.
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