DMS ’11 Preview: The ‘Why’ and ‘How’ of SMB Mobile Websites

Gearing up for a session on mobile tools for SMBs at next month’s DMS show, I listened to a webinar today put on by Duda Mobile and AT&T. As the session will focus on “onboarding” SMBs to a mobile presence, Duda builds mobile websites for SMBs (sold via AT&T).

As we wrote in our profile of Duda, it has the ability to build sites that share content and updates with a desktop site, but are still optimized for mobile. That simplicity for SMBs is vital. The other point here is how mobile sites fit in with the larger “apps vs. mobile Web” debate.

With growing mobile Web use and tools for mobile Web developers (i.e. HTML5), many have argued that the mobile Web (as opposed to apps) is where businesses should establish presence. And given limited screen real estate and varied user intent, positioning of calls to action is important.

Along these lines, the webinar had lots of good data on mobile Web use, site performance, call rates and other things that point to opportunities for SMBs to have optimized mobile landing pages. These should mirror online assets in content but not necessarily in design and interface.

I was able to capture a few slides with my trusty screenshot app. See them below as a preview for the things we’ll talk about next month at DMS (update: see the webinar replay here). And here are the session details:

Mobile Tools for SMBs: The Starting Line
Wednesday, Sept. 21, 1:30 pm – 2:00 pm

With the relentless penetration of smartphones and tablet devices well under way, mobile device use is quickly transforming the role and power of users, advertisers and publishers. But real adoption and execution are a different story. What are the tools being offered to SMBs to establish a mobile presence? What do these products look like and, more important, how are they selling? From self-serve Foursquare “specials” to Yellow Pages-delivered mobile landing pages, what’s working best for SMBs to get up and running?

Speakers:
Krishna Pillai, COO and Founder, Convergent Mobile
Itai Sadan, Cofounder and CEO, Duda Mobile
Annette Tonti, CEO, MoFuse