Facebook’s recent acquisition of the mobile photography application Instagram is “something of a turning point,” says New York Times technology reporter Jenna Wortham. She goes on to say:
Smartphones are everywhere now, allowing apps like Foursquare and Path to be self-contained social worlds, existing almost entirely on mobile devices. It is a major change from just a few years ago, underscoring how the momentum in the tech world is shifting to mobile from computers.
Facebook and Apple aren’t the only businesses to put their products under the mobile umbrella. Google is working on mobile technology in the form of glasses…as in, vision-correctors. Project Glass, it’s called. Google is hoping that this technology will eventually replace the mobile phone. While this seems very much in the future, the quick advancement in mobile technology should keep businesses that aren’t currently utilizing this technology on their toes.
Most tech/social-media junkies have already made the leap from desktop computers to laptops to smartphones and now tablets. While I’m not advising your business to go out and create a mobile application (you need to fill a need/niche, first) or spends hundreds or thousands of dollars on making your site mobile, there is an advantage to having a mobile-friendly website. Especially if your consumer-base is of the Millennial generation (do these kids even own desktop computers?).
If nothing else, check out your website on your smartphone. It’s free (sort of…obviously you have to pay for the phone and the service) and doesn’t take much effort. How does it look? How much maneuvering do you have to do to get where you want to go? Are you able to use the contact form easily? Are phone numbers and email addresses clickable?
Take the time to see what your potential consumers are seeing and make the proper adjustments. Now’s the time to at least start thinking about where and how your business is going to be seen, before you’re too far behind the times.