Exciting things happening here at Duda Mobile these days. First, we just reached a big milestone this past week. Over 100,000 mobile websites have been built and launched on the Duda platform. Thanks to partnerships with forward-thinking companies such as Webs.com and AT&T, who are bringing the mobile web to their customers, we reached the 100,000 milestone much faster than we anticipated.

On the heals of reaching this milestone, Duda is set to launch a self-service mobile website creation platform that will make it easy for any business or professional to build a mobile website that syncs with an existing website. We’ve been working for months to get the product ready for launch and will start our private beta testing later this month. If you are a business, website designer or marketing professional, there is still time to sign up to participate in the beta program.

This is a guest post from Webs.com

Webs, Inc. Website Owners Embrace DudaMobile Technology

As the Content Editor at Webs, Inc., the world’s most popular website-building solution, I watched with interest when we added DudaMobile to our available applications. The Mobile Website app, as we called  it, would give Webs users a way to mobile-optimize their websites with a single click. I was curious to see how the app would fare because small business owners are often too busy to adopt new technologies.

That was in November 2010. By March 2011, just four months later, over 50,000 Webs users were using the DudaMobile Mobile Website app to give their site visitors a best-in-class mobile experience. And 21% of surveyed Webs business users chose Mobile Website as their favorite third-party app in the Webs App store.

Webs users were also vocal with their requests. We listened and, in collaboration with DudaMobile, enhanced the app. A blog post we wrote about the updates, Mobile Website App-7 New Exciting Updates, received the following comments from our users:

• Matureo. love it. thanks heaps. have already gone mobile and can’t wait to get home from work tonight to experiment with these new enhancements.
• Buddy Web. okay, this is awesome!
• Island22horsepark. Ok just did it and it looks AMAZING on my iPhone!!! I haven’t seen what it looks like on a blackberry but I am thrilled!!! A HUGE percentage of our users are smartphone users and they are going to LOVE this. THANK YOU!
• Mary. The mobile app is AWESOME! I’ve had mobile traffic on my site for a long time & now my mobile users can take full advantage of my site! I installed the app before it was fully integrated with the other apps and it was ok. But now that the forums, photos, blogs and other pages are fully functional it is a work of genius! Thanks so much for giving us this functionality!!

When I think about it, I should have foreseen this warm reception. Many Webs users are small business owners who don’t have time to maintain two sites and therefore appreciate the automatic syncing. Just as importantly, DudaMobile helps fledgling entrepreneurs grow their customer base by capturing mobile traffic as well as PC-based traffic.

Those who run service-based businesses like restaurants and shops benefit in particular from DudaMobile’s “click to call” phone number widget and mobile map/directions widget, because they make it convenient for people to call or visit the storefront (thereby converting mobile traffic into paying customers).

So: case closed! DudaMobile’s technology is a huge hit with Webs users, as it deserves to be.

With so many websites being turned into mobile friendly sites, we thought it’s time to start digging through sites built with DudaMobile and sharing the ones that really stand out.

FilmPlexus
http://filmplexus.webs.com

Filmplexus, a website for the independent filmmaker community, was built on the Webs platform and optimized for mobile phones using DudaMobile. The mobile version of the site is extremely easy to read on a smartphone. Each page is correctly sized so the user doesn’t have to pinch, zoom, or scroll horizontally. Mobile-optimized navigation in the form of big buttons makes it easy for visitors to jump from page to page or return to the homepage. Site members can sign in and interact with the mobile site, too, such as by sharing resources and starting conversations in Filmplexus’s forums.

Itai Sadan Co-Founder and CEO of DudaMobile speaks with Smallbiztechnology.com’s Ramon Ray about small businesses and mobile web sites.

We just recently launched in the Webs.com app store. What this means is that if you have a website on Webs.com you can now mobilize it in 3 simple steps, all you have to do is:

1. Install the Mobile Website app
2. Edit the look and feel  of your mobile site
3. Presto! you are done.

The app automatically creates an optimized mobile version of your Webs.com site:

The app also automatically updates your mobile site when you make changes to your current website, plus you gain access to tons of great features like:

• Click-To-Call Option
• Mobile Map & Directions
• Mobile Site Analytics

Thanks to all the Webs users who have installed the Mobile Website app, the uptake has been beyond any expectations.  For further information read the press release and see the video demo below:

Nielsen announced this week that 25% of the phones in the US market are now Smartphones and that Android sales have surpassed sales of the iPhone. With twenty devices in the US market running Android OS, it was just a matter of time until they caught up with the sales of one single device.

This is very much in line with what we are seeing over here at DudaMobile in regards to the increase in the number of visitors to our mobile sites originating from Android devices. With the increase in sales, it was very much expected that many of these new Android users will be accessing the web from their mobile devices (see previous blog 38% of US cell phone owners use their device to access the web).

An interesting aspect of the survey shows that iPhone owners tend to be much more loyal to the iPhone device. When asked what will be their next desired device, 89% of iPhone owners said that it will be an iPhone compared to only 71% of Android owners who said they would stick with Android. This is one area where we see it’s going to be very difficult for Android to compete with iPhone.

The fact the iPhone is an OS that is built for one specific device gives Apple an advantage in terms of creating a cohesive product where user experience is controlled by it engineers from A to Z. Google on the other hand only controls the OS and gives the device manufacturers and carriers the flexibility of porting the OS and configuring it to fit their needs. So although working with multiple manufacturers and carriers give Android a significant distribution advantage the trade-off is the amount of control over the end product that they have. Apple and Google have different strategies and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

One other significant player that is mentioned in the report is Blackberry. According to the report Blackberry’s position as a leader in the Smartphone market has significantly declined in the  past year. In addition, only 42% of Blackberry users claimed they would stick with a Blackberry as their next device. With good timing RIM introduced the new Blackberry Torch this week and support for the Webkit browser (similar browser used by iPhone and Android) which was much awaited, as many regarded existing Internet browsing experience on Blackberries to be unsatisfactory.

Who’s going to win, well there may be more than one winner. If rumors have it right and iPhone will become available on other carriers besides AT&T then that would be a major win for Apple and many consumers who don’t want to transfer to the AT&T network. On the other hand Android’s growing ecosystem of carriers and device manufacturers might be a hard match for any single device, no matter how good it is.  Blackberry has a strong foot hold in the enterprise and both Google and Apple would need to strategically target IT departments in order to succeed on that front. One thing for sure, it’s going to be very interesting to monitor the Smartphone space, as the amount of innovation and changes are happing at a staggering pace.

A very interesting survey conducted by Pew Internet during the month of May indicates that there has been significant growth in US mobile Internet usage during the last year. The survey shows that 38% of US cell phone owners use their device to access the Internet, compared to last year when it was only 28%.

The statistics are even higher when looking at the age group of 18-29 years old cell phone owners, as 65% of them access the Internet from their mobile device.

For all the businesses that are still thinking about their mobile strategy (“we want to do it, it’s on our roadmap…”), it’s time to get moving.

[update] Comscore released a similar survey showing that 32% of US mobile subscribers use the mobile browser to access the Internet

In a previous blog I wrote about mobile users and the on-the-go type of usage that differentiates them from regular type of Internet users. One of the areas where this is most notable is Search. It relates to the keywords that mobile users type when searching for something, be it movie tickets, a restaurant menu or a local florist. It also pertains to the search results that they will get when clicking on the Search button.

Two interesting statistics show that there is a huge uptake in mobile search and especially in its local nature.

The first is from comScore M:Metrics that reported that in June 2008, 20.8 million U.S. mobile subscribers and 4.5 million European mobile phone subscribers accessed search during the month, an increase of 68 and 38 percent from June 2007, respectively.

The second is from The Kelsey Group which is forecasting that the percentage of mobile searches that have local intent will increase from 28 percent in 2008 to 35 percent in 2013.

So given this information, I want to explain why I believe it  is important for local businesses to take advantage of the soar in Mobile Search by creating a mobile website that is tailored for mobile users.

• Users searching from a mobile device require quick and reliable information. In many cases it is a very impulsive need and if your website doesn’t provide them with the information that they are looking for, they will quickly move to the next search result. A survey conducted by Gomez Inc. discovered that mobile web users do not have much patience for retrying a website that is slow or not functioning. 40 percent of the respondent to the survey said they’d likely visit a competitor’s mobile website instead.

• A small local business website has a much higher chance of ranking high for local searches than regular searches. Mobile users searching for businesses in a certain category and that are located in the geographical vicinity to a certain business should see that business rank higher in their results compared to running the same search from a desktop computer. This is due to Google’s ability to use the location of the device conducting the search (upon the user’s approval). Google can do this  either by using the GPS capabilities embedded in Smartphones or for mobile devices without GPS, users can update their current location manually.
• Google has added a small icon that identifies websites that are tailored for mobile devices in order to help mobile users using Google Search for Mobile focus on the sites that will display well on their devices. An example below shows the result when searching for Pizza. Notice the “little green icon” next to the URL indicating that this is a mobile friendly site.In order for Google to identify your site as mobile friendly, you need to submit your mobile sitemap to the Google Webmaster Tool. See instruction how to do it.

Google Green Mobile Icon

• Lastly Google has also recently launched (Sep 09) a new redesigned experience for Local Search for mobile. If you go to google.com from a mobile device you will notice a link labeled “Local” on the top. Clicking on it will lead you to a directory structure (restaurants, shopping, gas etc.). When you either perform a query search or browse through the directory Google will list only businesses in your geographical vicinity. The main benefit is that mobile users can now search for businesses without typing.

Google Local Search for Mobile

So it’s now easier for mobile users to find your business, only question is if your website is ready for mobile?

To mobilize your website contact us at www.dudamobile.com, we have created mobile sites for several local businesses and would be glad to help you out.

You probably already have an Internet website and are now considering to create a mobile website. One of the main questions you might be debating with is whether to create a mobile application (app) or a mobile website. There has been quite a bit of discussion on the web regarding the pros and cons of each of these options.

With the huge buzz around Apple’s App Store and Blackberry’s App World it seems that mobile applications are taking over, but is an app the right solution for everyone? Doesn’t it seem like we have gone back fifteen years and once again being required to install packaged software? An interesting research by Pinch Media shows that less than 5% of downloaded apps continue to be used 20 days after being downloaded.

There are some cases where an app makes more sense as for example: businesses who have a very large and dedicated user base (e.g . Facebook) or solutions that requires special capabilities of the mobile device that are not accessible through the web (e.g. gaming).

But in the majority of the cases businesses and individuals will gain more from going through the mobile web route. The development costs will be lower, the potential market size will be bigger and it will be much easier for people to find your site by using any search engine.

Before making a decision several criteria should be considered. Below I summarized some of the main points to help you make the right decision for your business. Feel free to comment or add to my list.

Many times I’m being asked by prospect customers “why do I need a mobile website?”

The answer is simple, it’s all about REACH and ENGAGEMENT.

Reach

According to Comscore 63 million US mobile phone users accessed news and information from their mobile devices in Jan 09. This is no surprise with new versions of internet enabled mobile phones entering the market this year like mushrooms after the rain (iPhone 3G, Palm Pre, Google Android etc). The internet is now in the grasp of many hands. It is today by far the most personal gadget, accompanying us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week wherever we go. Businesses understand this and have followed by creating websites that are tailored to the mobile user. A reports by Nielsen Mobile show that businesses that have added a mobile website have increased overall traffic to their website by 13%.

Engagement

Now fact is that most website display pretty poorly on mobile devices as they were not built to fit a small screen. A recent study shows that the average success rate for a user to complete a task via his mobile device was only 59%. The reason is that websites were not tailored for a mobile on-the-go type of interaction. Mobile users have different needs, they might be standing in the corner of a street trying to get precise information like your businesses address or the price of a product. How long will it take them to get to that information? If the information is not visible and the site is not appealing, chances are that they will just give up and search for a more mobile-friendly website that is willing to provide them with that information and keep them engaged.

So what do you do about it?

You basically have two options:

• Do nothing and hope that the mobile browsers will improve with time
• Create an optimized site for mobile

I will cover both these options in my next post: Better mobile browsers won’t solve the mobile web problem