It has been apparent for some time
now that the “Mobile Revolution” is on. 
Consumers can use mobile devices
to interact with businesses from
anywhere, anytime.  Mobile now accounts
for 12% of all global internet traffic,
but what about the traffic to local
businesses?  The mobilized shopper of
today is impaction merchants, retailers
and other businesses in ways never seen
before.  The playing field has definitely
shifted in favor of the informed consumer
who totally expects to find what they are
looking for when they want it….. right now. 
For the local business owner to be competitive,
they must be mindful of some current consumer
facts:
1.94% of smartphone users have searched
for local information
2.70% called a business after searching
3.66% visited in person
4.90% of these users acted within 24 hours

Access to mobile information has to be
incredibly user friendly for the mobile
devices of today. Smartphone users in
general favor browsers over apps,
(48% vs. 26%) with iPhone users being
the most likely to use apps (40% vs. 36%).

To effectively reach the broadest shopping
base, the business should really utilize
both options.

Most Companies probably DON’T have a
mobile website.  While this may not
have been a big problem even last year,
it’s quickly becoming extremely important
to have a functional mobile version of
their website ready for their customers.

More than half of U.S. consumers
own a smartphone.

It’s hard to believe that the first
iPhone was released only a few years ago.
In the six short years since 2007,
smartphones have become a fixture in
American culture. Since it’s not 2007
anymore, you can’t ignore the fact that
more people have smartphones than feature
phones, (basically any phone that isn’t
an iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows phone
or Android), and they’re using those
smartphones to browse the internet.

This trend has been predicted for years,
but as of March 2012,
THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS NOW
HAVE A SMARTPHONE.

The next time you’re waiting for
something somewhere, maybe you’re
 waiting to be seated at a restaurant,
or waiting in the checkout line at
the grocery store, take a good look around. 

Take note of how many people are passing
the time by using their smartphones. 
Maybe they’re browsing the internet,
reading the news or just texting. 

This will help you realize just how
widespread the use of mobile devices
are today, and further, just how vitally
important it is for your prospects and
 customers to have a mobile optimized
website.  
As a quick example….. consider the
mobile traffic seen from January 1 –
May 28, 2012 versus the same time
period in 2011 for VisitIndiana.com. 

While mobile visitors accounted for
just under 4% of all website visits
in 2011, during 2012, analytics have
shown that mobile visitors were up
to almost 16% of all website visits. 

This falls in line with recent reports
that mobile devices make up about 20%
of ALL US web traffic. 
That means that about one out of
every five visitors to websites in the US,
is using a mobile device to do so.

Think about a restaurant or a local
business that provides entertainment. 
You should know that a large portion of
the keywords in that category,
(21% of the total),
are searched MORE FROM MOBILE DEVICES
THAN DESKTOPS OR LAPTOPS. 
This includes the “high funnel keywords”,
(“restaurant”, “restaurants”, “bars”,
“fast food”). 

According to Google search volumes,
88% of the total search volume for the
keyword “restaurants” comes from mobile
devices, and 97% of the total volume for
 “bars” comes from mobile devices. 
Ironically, according to a recent
Restaurant Sciences industry study,
95% of independent restaurants
DO NOT HAVE A MOBILE WEBSITE! Only about
HALF OF CHAIN RESTAURANTS HAVE SOME
SORT OF MOBILE SITE.

Mobile users expect a simplified
and quick loading browsing experience.

While modern smartphones can render
full websites, (with the exception
of Flash for iPhones), mobile users
expect to see a site that loads quickly,
is easily navigable,
(without having to “pinch zoom) and
contains sections and functionality
pertinent and unique to mobile users.

When we look at the top two hundred
queries for desktop versus the top
two hundred queries that have more
mobile volume than desktop volume,
we start to get a sense of what mobile
searchers in the category need…..
 and it’s NOT the same as what
desktop searchers are looking for.

Desktop searchers are mostly
looking for coupons, menus,
locations and specific names of
restaurants, (McDonalds, TGI
Fridays etc.).  Additionally,
they are putting in geomodifiers
Like Pittsburgh, Phoenix or Miami to
find a location in a specific area. 
However, when we look at a visualization
of mobile search queries, we see a
 much different story. Where mobile
searchers are mostly not looking for
coupons in this category, they are
looking for menus, but much less
so than they are for locations,
which is the most repeated word i
n the query list by far. 

Additionally, mobile searchers are
 not putting in specific locations,
but expect the search engine to find
the location nearest their current
location.  Beyond that, mobile searchers
are looking for hours and phone
numbers more with the mobile site.

This is consistent with recent
 Google smartphone research, which
found that 94% of US based smartphone
users look for local information on
their phone, and 90% take action as
a result…… making a purchase or
contacting the business.

If you are working with a restaurant
 or a bar for example, you don’t want
to have them present printable coupons
or job applications or Flash animation
about the location on their mobile site.   

There’s a very good chance that the
mobile searcher is just looking for
a phone number, directions or hours
of operation. 

The mobile searcher has much different
goals than the desktop user, and if
your customer tries to serve them
the same experience as is displayed
on the desktop site, it’s just going
to slow down the mobile users experience
and make it more difficult for the
mobile user to achieve their goals.

We know what the mobile searchers
are looking for, and it’s generally
not what the desktop searchers want. 

Without a proper mobile website,
your prospect of customer is losing
a significant audience. 
That will always translate into
poor or slower growth.

Every company must embrace this
technology or lose their market
share to their competitors who have.

The ICANetwork is a technology
service company that offers
mobile and Internet solutions. 

There are 5 products/services
from which you can earn an income:
1) Custom phone app.,
2) Build the app for the customer,
3) Mobile website conversion,
4) Search engine optimization,
5) Facebook management program. 

All products are priced
for the small business owner.