The importance of mobile to your future

You know, in the 'professional world' of my day job (which I will perhaps transition out of over the next three to five years), I have been working with the impact of mobile technology, not just on large companies, but on whole countries.

"What has this got to do with me?" (i hear you asking)

Well, here's the thing. In 2013, for the first time in history, internet access by mobile devices will surpass that of the traditional fixed laptop/desktops via broadband or dial-up networks (that includes all the PC's we have at home or in offices). And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Look at this graph... it gives you the number of mobile subscriptions per 100 inhabitants of six different countries. Most people are surprised when they see that the US isn't at the top of the pile - but many of the less developed nations have bypassed the 'fixed network' stage that we went through and have gone straight to mobile.

(If you want to see the interactive version ... go here - it's a Google public data tool that you just gotta love - you can play with the countries and data which all comes from ITU - the International Telecommunications Union).

Think about that folk for a minute. Try and figure out where I might be heading with this!

Here's one more graph and then I'll come to the point. Promise!

What's this? This is a new site I set up one week ago (I now have two sites, will share some more info later about my second adventure). I ain't linked to it yet, just set it up in Google Webmaster Tools. It is already generating 500 impressions and 20 visits per day with natural organic search because it is listed at number 5 on the target keyword niche.

BUT LOOK AT THE % of Mobile access - it is more than standard web access from the desktop PC.

So - to answer the question I set myself - what does this mean? It means that once you have got over the excitement of setting up your site, and you are generating good targeted content and all the other things promoted here - at some point you might want to look at a Wordpress Theme that supports mobile devices.

I mean, if over 50% of your traffic is from mobile devices and you have a cr%p theme from a mobile perspective - then you are missing out on potential opportunity. And this percentage is only going to increase.

The term used for a theme that supports mobile viewing (e.g.smartphone or tablet viewing) is called a responsive theme. Once you get the hang of your niche site and are a few weeks into the process of establishing some authority with your content - you may want to consider a theme upgrade to a responsive design theme. There are hundreds of them on the WordPress site that you can access from your Admin panel ... just type the word responsive into your search.

Hope you find this interesting and please leave a comment or question if you want to know more.

Cheers.