by Holly Robinson
June 1, 2012 2:39 PM
According to data from Cisco Systems Inc., mobile traffic has more than doubled in the last four years. Mobile traffic to the StorageFront website rose from less than 1 percent in 2009 to nearly 20 percent in the first four months of this year. Because of this growth, StorageFront recently built and launched their new mobile site.
"Mobile traffic is only going to continue to grow," Red Nova Labs CEO Dan Miller said. "It was important to us that all of our users - not just those landing on StorageFront on their desktops or laptops - have a great experience. In 2012, it is a must to have a mobile site."
Their mobile site has fewer bells and whistles. It doesn't have storing tips, resources for renters, or other tools that the main website has. The mobile version focuses on functionality instead. The end goal is to get users to click on the phone number of the facility where they want to rent a unit.
"It's geared toward being simplistic and just getting people to make a call of action instead of spending a lot of time on your phone, which most people don't want to do," said Lesley Latham, Project Manager at StorageFront. "They want to get it over with and get out of there as fast as possible, especially on mobile devices."
So why should a self storage business be concerned about having a mobile version of their website? There are several reasons. An obvious one is the size of screens used. Screens on a smart phone are a lot smaller than computer monitors. A person using a smart phone would have to scroll and scroll to see everything on a website's regular page. That is very frustrating for users. Plus, a mobile site has easier navigation for smart phone users.
When smart phone users access webpages on their phone, they are looking for phone numbers, addresses, hours of operation, services offered, and contact information. Finding essential information is important to them. Mobile sites are not focused on design like regular webpages
Over the last decade, using paper money has dwindled in favor of using plastic cards (debit and credit). In the near future, plastic will be replaced by the "mobile wallet." In some areas of the United States, people can already order and pay for take-out from local restaurants or make purchases from Macey's or Bloomingdale's. At the beginning of this year, Google launched Google Wallet that will allow you to order ahead and self-check-out which will open up vast arena of making purchases from cell phones.
Sources Used:
"StorageFront Launches Mobile-Friendly Version of Website." Yahoo News; 31 May 2012.
"Differences Between a Mobile Website and Regular Websites." SMS Marketing NW.
"The End of Cash." Time; 9 January 2012.