Google study highlights importance of mobile-friendly websites

Mobile searches for leading retail brands increased by 166% in the UK last Christmas.

That is according to Google, who have released results highlighting the importance for businesses – and particularly retailers – to have a mobile-friendly site to serve traffic.

Nearly four out of five large UK online advertisers do not currently have this facility – risking alienating customers and incentivising them to go elsewhere.

Google’s head of global mobile sales Jason Spero further reported that approximately 15% of all web traffic is now mobile – likening a failure to answer this demand with a mobile site to closing down your website for one day every week.

Now Google’s GetMo scheme – which aims to help UK firms establish a presence on the mobile web – has partnered with dotMobi, to introduce the goMobi mobile website builder to Google’s business users.

Established in 2010, goMobi allows firms to create sophisticated mobile websites via a simple cloud service, including click-to-call, m-commerce support, maps and social networking functionality. The service is currently available to businesses at a 40% discount through group hosting site Easyspace, including a free trial.

Eileen O’Sullivan, COO of dotMobi, said: “We’ve been in mobile web since its beginning, so we understand websites need to deliver a local, personal and mobile-specific experience to customers.

“Mobile is not desktop made smaller. It’s a different medium and needs a different approach.”