So maybe you’ve vaguely heard about mobile websites. Or maybe someone has suggested that you get a mobile website for your business. Maybe you even use mobile websites – you just don’t know it. So what are mobile websites? And why is it so important that you have one for your business?

A mobile website is a website that can be accessed through a mobile device such as a cellphone, a smartphone, or a tablet that’s connected to a wireless network. In the past, if someone wanted to hop online and browse the Internet, they needed to find a fixed-line service and a large desktop computer in order to do so. But today, websites and the Internet are being reached through these compact devices more and more. In fact, in 2008, accessing the Internet through portable and mobile devices exceeded the use of desktop computers for the first time.

This rise in portable Web browsing was in part due to the popularity of smartphones in 2007. These phones came with more functions, more features, a touchscreen on many of them, and Internet access on just about every model. In 2010, tablet computers hit the market and the increase of people surfing the Web from a portable device surged even more.

As technology advances, there are going to be even more ways for consumers to access the Web from a portable device, and more devices to do it with! This is why making sure that your business is equipped to handle the increase, and has a mobile website all its own, is so important.