More and more websites are being viewed using mobile devices. eDigital Research reported that, “84% of smartphone owners have used their devices to browse websites.” That report was created almost a year ago, and so that number is only going up.

Not every website is ready for mobile devices. Many tablets will render websites OK, but not all phones do. Most smart phone browsers automatically detect that you’re visiting the site from a smartphone and will automatically adjust what you see. But not all websites have the capability to work with smart phones.

squarespace-mobilesiteAer Lingus mobile site

Here are two examples of websites that have not thought through their mobile strategy.

Squarespace, ironically, is a company that allows you to create your own website. The sites are nice, but the company’s site totally does not work on smart phones.

Aer Lingus is an airline that is based in Dublin, Ireland. Forcing the user to download an app or click through to a mobile site is not good.

Frontier Airlines does a much better job. It’s not pretty, but on the landing page, you can very easily get what you need.

This post is not intended for embarrassing Squarespace and Aer Lingus but rather to show that even big companies can make mistakes in this area.

So what do you do?

1. First, load up your business website on a smartphone. Play around and see how it performs. Borrow a friend’s iPhone or Android phone to see how it works on both platforms.

2. If you haven’t got a business site yet, there’s good news. Free sites you can create through WordPress and Google’s Blogger have built-in adaptability to smartphones. Their free sites have limited capabilities, but you may be able to do what you need with what they offer. If the free sites you can create there won’t do all you need, contact me. I can get you going with a good mobile-friendly site.