Just how different is the mobile web from the regular PC web? As far as consumers are concerned, the mobile web is the PC web – just smaller. When people are looking for services and content that match the immediacy and personal nature of mobile – up-to-date sports news, movie listings, dating sites to name a few – they are browsing the regular internet but on a mobile phone.
Purchasing goods on mobile
Many of the major influences on the PC web have crossed over to mobile. Take mobile advertising for example, search marketing (though there isn’t anywhere near the same volume of mobile searches as on the PC) and analytics that measure the ROI from mobile marketing campaigns such as Bango mobile analytics. All these are now prominent on the mobile web.
What are the next things we are likely to see on the mobile web? We think it’ll be:
- Retailing
- Banking
- SEO
Retailing has already made an entrance with mainstream sites – Amazon and eBay – providing access to their catalogues and services on mobile. Even luxury brands such as Ralph Lauren market their mobile shopping site on their bags and recently promoted it at the US Open 2008. People like the convenience of purchasing goods from their mobile and it’s not all flowers for the wife!
Mobile banking which made an early debut 6 years ago and then failed is destined to rise from the ashes. According to a study by financial consultancy Celent, 35% of online banking households will be using mobile banking by 2010, up from less than 1% today. In parts of the world such as Africa, India and China where PC connectivity is limited, there’ll be a huge uptake of mobile banking.
Finally, SEO which is huge on the PC web as any mobile marketer knows only too well, will soon make an appearance on mobile. Presently, there are technical challenges to getting spidered and indexed by the new and often imperfect mobile search engines. But many of these roadblocks will disappear as the fledgling mobile SEO industry gets into the driving seat and starts motoring.