With the ongoing increase in popularity of remote devices such as smartphones and tablets, big businesses are quickly becoming aware of the importance of  maintaining a strong online presence and, more significantly, optimising their websites for mobile platforms.

However, the same may not be true for small businesses and sole traders. In a recent survey of 400 respondents – 50% self employed professionals and 50% decision makers in small businesses – 74% had not designed a version of their website for mobile, and a higher percentage (86%) did not have a version optimised for tablets. Only 1 in 10 participants thought that it was important to have a mobile-ready version of their website – surprisingly low, considering the recent mobile advertising success stories of from high profile companies such as Twitter.

The survey, conducted by Serif, showed that price was a significant factor in small businesses’ decision to avoid mobile web design. 41% of businesses would ignore optimising their websites for mobile and tablet audiences if they thought it would be too expensive or difficult to implement.

Despite the cost, mobile optimisation is likely to be a worthwhile investment for small businesses. Mobile search has risen by 500% over the past two years, so it is imperative that all businesses adapt their online information and take advantage of the growing trend, regardless of the size of their business.

Tags: mobile web design, mobile websites, Serif, small businesses, smartphones

This entry was posted on Friday, June 8th, 2012 at 12:05 pm and is filed under Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.