Luke Wroblewski, author of "Mobile First", reveals why he thinks Americans are so drawn to using their mobile phones for everything, even though we all have TVs, desktops, tablets, and laptops: 

"There are scenarios where the laptop is two feet from you but you have your smartphone in your hand. And it’s not that the smartphone is any better or easier for getting things done, it’s just that it’s there, it’s on, so you’re going to do it on that device rather than getting up, going over to the laptop, turning it on, right?

It’s not like people are saying, “I’m going to choose this device because it is the best for blank,” no, that’s not what they’re thinking. “OK, I’ve got my phone. I’ll just check my email right now.” This is why I think that mobile is the first order priority device for access, because it’s always with you, always connected and you can kind of do it anywhere and everywhere, whereas a lot of these other devices have a home, if you will. The desktop’s at the office. The tablet’s at the house. The TV’s at the house. You’re generally not watching TV during the day, but the smartphone is always with you, always connected so it kind of becomes the first line of defense."

It's plain to see how important mobile websites are, but  just how do mobilized websites work? It's pretty simple, really.. When a user loads your website, it will detect what sort of mobile device your user is using, whether it is a phone, tablet, etc. and the website will be presented in the way that will be best used by that device.

Don't be confused, just because you can see a website on your mobile device, doesn't mean that it is optimized for use on a mobile device. You have to make sure that your website is user friendly for use on mobile devices.  The main goal is to make sure that your website looks the same on every screen: tablet, smart phone, tv, computer, etc. 

There are quite a few things to consider when checking out how your website is optimized for mobile use. How is the size of your text? Do you accidentally click the wrong link because the text is too small? Do you have to pinch, zoom and move the site all around to be able to read the whole thing? These are all things to watch out for, since they are things that will turn mobile users off from your site. If a customer has to work too hard to use your mobile site, they will just give up and move on to another site that is easier to use. 

You can either create a mobile version of your site, which is essentially just your site, converted to a smaller size. For a mobile site, your site will look the same on any mobile device, from a tablet, to a smartphone, to anything in between. The other option is to create a responsive design of the site for mobile use. With a responsive design, your site will conform to whichever type of mobile device your users are viewing your site on. As you can see there are several different options for customizing your website for mobile use, and each of them will help to increase and grow your business. 

Google has created a great resource called GoMo, designed to make it easier for every business owner to optimize their website for every type of screen! You can check it out here. It really is a great resource and even allows you to take a look at how your site currently looks on a mobile device, so you can see how you can make things work better. There are also websites available that are designed specifically for users to build a mobile website, such as http://buildmymobi.com/. Whatever option you choose for optimizing your website for mobile use, just make sure you do it, and do it soon!