Optimizing Company Websites For Mobile Screens And Tablets - The Time Is Now

Businesses need to prepare now for the next major trend in web design and development which will be the majority of internet users browsing a company's website on small-screen cell phones and tablets.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, more American adults own cell phones than own desktops or laptops. It has been predicted (and is entirely expected) that by 2014, browsing the Internet on mobile devices will become more frequent than browsing the internet on a desktop computer or laptop.

Well-developed professional service company websites are traditionally designed and programmed to reach the company's target audience. That audience is typically thought of as sitting at work or at home using a conventional computer with one of the popular browsers - Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome. Over the next 24 months, the audiences that businesses need to reach most (clients, new business leads, referral sources, job candidates, etc.) will continue to move away from their desktop and laptop browsers to more convenient devices - mobile and tablet. The browsers they will be using are Opera, Andriod browser, Safari, BlackBerry browser, Internet Explorer Mobile and more.

If your website is using Google Analytics to monitor and measure site traffic, take a look at the "Devices" report under Audience > Mobile. The report provides a list of the various devices that visitors are using to view your site. This should be used as a starting point for prioritizing your next steps for website mobile / tablet optimization. You can also use today's data from the device report as a benchmark as you watch the predictions come true about the incredible growth of mobile and tablet usage through 2014.