The overt distinction between mobile and non-mobile websites is completely inane. It doesn’t matter what platform the internet is viewed on, its content remains the same. Likewise, regardless of which device it is accessed on, the internet will continue to evolve in its own distinct way. There is nothing inherently special about the mobile device. Even before the ‘mobile revolution’, the internet could be accessed through Internet Explorer, Xbox and portable games consoles.

However, capabilities of devices change much more quickly than marketing to digital audiences, which follows a much slower curve. The fact that mobile and non-mobile sites are considered separately shows a general attitude of passivity, which ignores mobile compatibility in crucial developmental stages.

Although devices are mobile dominant, as marketers are busy optimising sites for mobile, the very display of information they show could change. Intelligent design and development will never be ‘futureproof’, although it should reflect an ability to change as devices evolve. There is a common attitude of asking whether certain programmes or hardware could be ‘the future’. This is beside the point: the future is not a definite programme or device, it is a set of changing behaviours.

Take the example of Second Life. You could build a virtual life online, and people eventually began to meet there for interviews and business meetings. At the same time, marketers began asking whether virtual reality is the future. They should have been asking what role shifting behaviours and attitudes surrounding virtual reality would have on the future.

To make divisions between mobile and “not mobile” as a marketer is backward. Devices are moving towards being mobile dominant, but it won’t stop there. We will probably find that while we are busy optimising for mobile, the very display of information will change. A perfectly mobile-optimised 2D website may well look very out of date while others are developing more cleverly.

Ultimately, it is the way groups behave and how they use the internet that determines the functionality of their device. You need to be where your market is looking for you. Traditionally in digital, B2B has generally followed B2C, which first discovers what works and what doesn’t. There isn’t the same urgency in B2B to develop a mobile-optimised website as there is in B2C as most office workers will access the internet from their desktop. Although, with the introduction of BYOD (bring your own device), this trend looks set to change. This factor, along with Google's new algorithm that gives mobile-optimised sites preferential treatment, means the perceived value of being able to distinguish between mobile and non-mobile sites is likely to decrease.

Although it may not yet be damaging for the B2B site to ignore its display on a mobile device, this is set to change as daily functions become more and more dominantly completed by mobile. For instance, Indeed have found 50 per cent of job seekers search and apply for jobs on their mobile phone. If your careers site is not mobile-friendly you may be missing out on excellent candidates.

Even if the analytics are in favour of overall desktop usage, by ignoring mobile traffic there will be a significant overall drop-off of users. No matter how small that segment may be, it is set to grow. The mobile-optimised website is a necessity that must be seen as the starting block rather than the finishing line.

 

By Patrick Tame, CEO of Beringer Tame. 

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