Lately it seems I have been getting several requests from clients looking to update their VERY OLD websites. When I say “very old” I am talking 3-5 year old websites. Some things improve with age, a single malt whiskey, a red bordeaux, my marriage, etc. Sadly websites are not in this category. “Website Years” are a lot like “Dog Years“, technology, and societal uses of the internet change so much, and so quickly, that we really need to think of a 3 year old website being like a 21 year old website.

Everything on the internet changes and develops very quickly. The speed at which the expectation of mobile content has increased was really due to the best piece of tech I have ever owned, my iPhone, and the iPad. The iPhone and the wave of smartphones and tablets that have hit the market has been amazing. The world is truly at everyone’s fingertips now, and the business world knows it and in some cases is struggling to adapt quickly enough.

Many of us in this industry failed to see that this mobile tsunami was coming so quickly, but by it’s very nature, the internet is an adaptable fast moving space. Responsive web design started to become quite popular only about a year ago (remember dog years). So if your site is more than 3 years old and even in some cases just a year or two old, chances are it’s not mobile friendly and might just be in need of a re-do.

Bottom line is, if your website, online content, videos, etc. that you are serving up on your fancy relatively newish website are not mobile friendly, you are loosing viewers, and potential customers. It’s time to invest in a facelift, or a complete redesign of your website.

There are several ways to serve up mobile friendly content:

• Responsive Design – A design that moves and adapts to different screen sizes.
• Alternate Mobile Friendly Version – A script detects what screen size is attempting to view the content and serves up the best design of your website.
• Web App – A website that acts just like a mobile app (this website uses this method)

If you are not sure what your website looks like on mobile devices, there are several online services that will show you. The one I like to use is mobiletest.me

If your website does not work properly on a mobile platform, it’s time to update the design. There is no better time than now. Mobile use of the internet is only going to increase.

Here are 25 interesting facts about how mobile internet users access online content:

1. Within 4 years, more consumers will access internet content via mobile devices than PCs (Source: Brightcove)
2. People spend more time on mobile apps (94 minutes/day) than desktop and mobile web (72 minutes/day) (Source: Brightcove)
3. 43% of B2C marketers use mobile content as a content marketing tactic (Source: CMI)
4. 42% of B2C marketers use mobile apps as a content marketing tactic (Source: CMI)
5. 33% of B2B marketers use mobile content as a content marketing tactic (Source: CMI)
6. 26% of B2B marketers use mobile apps as a content marketing tactic (Source: CMI)
7. From 2011 to 2012, the use of mobile as a tactic by B2B marketers has increased from 15% to 33% (Source: CMI)
8. 30% of marketing managers think that branded mobile apps is the most important channel for engaging consumers (Source: The CMA)
9. There are 5x as many cell phones in the world as there are PCs (Source: Impiger Mobile)
10. 82% of US adults own a cell phone (Source: Pew Internet)
11. 49% of the mobile subscribers in the US own a smartphone (Source: MobiThinking)
12. 25% of Americans ONLY use mobile devices to access the internet (Source: GoMo News)
13. 73% of smartphone users said they used mobile web to shop rather than an app (Source: Yahoo)
14. 72% of smartphone users in the US use the device to look up directions or maps (Source: zmags)
15. 56% of global online consumers watch video on mobile at least once a month (Source: Brightcove)
16. 28% of global online consumers watch video on mobile at least once a day (Source: Brightcove)
17. 60% of web users say they expect a site to load on their mobile phone in 3 seconds or less (Source: Compuware)
18. 74% are only willing to wait 5 seconds or less for a web page to load before leading the site (Source: Compuware)
19. Time spent on mobile apps is largely dominated by games and social networking (49% and 30% resp.) (Source: HubSpot)
20. 72% of smartphone users in the US use the device to go online while traveling (Source: zmags)
21. 64% of smartphone users in the US use the device to go online while in a restaurant or coffee shop (Source: zmags)
22. 63% of smartphone users in the US use the device to go online while in a store when shopping (Source: zmags)
23. 74% of smartphone users use their phone to help with shopping – 79% ultimately making a purchase as a result (Source: Impiger Mobile)
24. 9 out of 10 mobile searches lead to action and over half lead to purchase (Source: Search Engine Land)
25. 70% of mobile searches lead to action within one hour – It takes one month for the same percentage of desktop users to catch up (Source: Mobile Marketer)

Stats courtesy of Zemanta