PMI Online Business

The evolution of technology in recent years has meant more people are using their mobile phones to access the internet. Accordingly in 2005, the .mobi domain – a domain designed specifically for access by mobile devices – was approved. So what does this mean for your business? What exactly is a .mobi domain? And do you need one?

            The idea behind a .mobi domain is to create a website that can be easily accessed and viewed by a mobile device. If you already own a phone with internet access, you know that you can already view pretty much any website on your phone (.com, .net, .org, etc.) regardless of the domain. A properly-designed .mobi site simply makes the site easier to use and navigate; the site is intended to be viewed on a smaller screen with a mobile connection.

Once advantage to .mobi sites is that search engines know if you’re searching on a mobile phone, and will give preference to sites using the .mobi domain. This means the search results are more likely to include a .mobi site than a non-.mobi site.

So do you need a .mobi site? It depends on your current website and your business, and will take some research to figure out.

First, try visiting your current website from a mobile device. How is the experience? Is it difficult to navigate? Are you able to see things clearly enough? If it’s an awkward experience (and feel free to enlist friends to do the same thing) you have a few different options.

1. Maybe you don’t do anything. Look at your target demographic; are a significant portion of them using mobile devices to access your website? How much revenue do you think you’re losing by not having a mobile-friendly site? If you’re not alienating a key demographic, you probably shouldn’t worry about it.
2. Maybe you try to improve your current site. Like was mentioned, mobile devices can already access your .com site, but maybe it’s just a little cluttered. Try some design changes, or have contact information prevalent so they can call you (you know, use the “talky” part of their phone) if they have questions. But keep track of the data; if the changes don’t bring greater revenue, you may want to stick with what you had before.
3. Maybe you invest in a good .mobi site. If your customers need a better experience when visiting your site on their mobile devices, and your current site is hurting the bottom line, you should probably make the investment. Plus, this may give you an advantage on your competition when people search for your product on their phones.

Weigh the pros and cons, then make an educated decision about creating a .mobi site. If it’s not going to directly help build your business, there’s likely not a pressing need to create one.

Because online business owners are presented with an array of online marketing options, they may wonder if offline marketing is worth their time. Television, radio and print ads often seem outdated when compared to their online counterparts, but a study by Forrester Research suggests offline marketing is effective and leads to significant online sales. The study revealed that nearly 40% of online users make a purchase after being influenced by an offline channel.

One reason for the sustained impact of offline marketing is the modern convergence of online and offline mediums. Did you know that more people listen to digital radio on their PCs and TVs than on an actual radio? In a similar trend, 20% of television viewers now watch their favorite shows on their PC. This synthesis of mediums suggests that marketing in the future will follow a corresponding model.

The Forrester data found that TV ads prompted more online company and product searches than any other offline mediums. This is not surprising – TV returns an average of over $4 sales for every $1 spent, a higher average ROI than any other offline medium. Even radio ads, the great-grandparent of modern advertising, were shown to be effective. One reason for this is that radio ads allow marketers to target local and national niche audiences.

According to the experts from PMI Education, the results from this study do nothing to diminish the impact of online advertising. Rather, it shows the importance of both online and offline mediums, suggesting that marketers should consider a synthesized advertising approach. As demonstrated by the growing amount of television viewed online, the convergence of the two will only spread in the future. To take advantage of this, marketers should consider strategies which utilize the strengths of both mediums.