Ann Arbor Restaurant Gets Mobile Savvy, Enlists Google to Make Mobile Website

Posted: May 9, 2012 at 12:49 PM [May 9, 2012]

Posted by: Mike Miller, Head of Google Ann Arbor

Remember when cellphones were the shape of large bricks -- and when they had oversized buttons for the sole purpose of placing calls in case of an emergency?

Times have changed. Half of US mobile phone users now own smartphones, which means these people can browse the web, use mobile apps and much more, while they’re on the go. And even in this early stage of the smartphone revolution, people are growing to expect their mobile experience to equal that of their desktop experience. In order to create an experience designed specifically for mobile users and mobile devices -- with no pinching, squinting and zooming required to get the most out of a mobile web page -- businesses have to optimize their sites for mobile devices.

Unfortunately for busy business owners, mobile-friendly site creation can seem like a daunting project. But it’s worth making it a priority; 40% of users reported that they’ve turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience1.

The good news is that there’s currently a window of opportunity to get ahead in the mobile game. For example, although restaurant-related queries are growing rapidly on the mobile web, 95% of restaurants don’t have mobile friendly sites, according to a study by Restaurant Science. For businesses like Sava’s Restaurant in Ann Arbor, this means there’s a chance to stand out positively by creating a good mobile experience for potential customers.

Ready to create your mobile-friendly site but don’t know where to begin? Google can help. We recently teamed up with DudaMobile to release a free mobile site builder. In three easy steps you’re able to get started with mobile: (1) enter your site’s URL, (2) customize your site and (3) redirect mobile users automatically to the new mobile-friendly version. It’s free and the process takes just a few minutes to complete!

To give you an idea of how the tool works, here’s how Sava’s desktop site is converted to a mobile-friendly site in the site creation tool:

Want to learn how to use the tool for your site? Join us on Thursday, May 10th at 1pm EST/10am PST and watch as Google showcases how Sava’s and Top Mast Resort in Massachusetts go mobile and build mobile-friendly sites--live on air.

Google will host the Google+ Hangout with Dennis Mink of DudaMobile live, on air, and will create the mobile sites as you watch. You’ll also hear from Dennis about best practices when using the mobile site builder, and some important questions to ask yourself when building a mobile-friendly site.

Here’s how you can tune in:

Sign into Google+ on Thursday, May 10th at 1pm EST/10am PST

Go to the Think with Google Google+ page

Look for the stream post and click to enter the live stream

Need help with getting started on Google+? Read this guide.

Source: (1) Gomez 2011