As Smartphone Use Increases, Law Firms Must Create PDA-Friendly Websites

By Larry Bodine, Esq., a business development advisor who for 19 years has helped law firms nationwide attract new clients and generate new business by using strategy, business development training and individual attorney coaching. See www.LarryBodine.com. He can be reached at 630.942.0977 and Lbodine [at] LawMarketing [dot] com.

Nearly a quarter of households (up 38% year-over-year) have smartphones (mobile phones with advanced operating systems), making it easier for consumers to “place shift” and view the Internet wherever they are, according to the new Three Screen Report for the first quarter of 2010 published by The Nielsen Company.

To illustrate the impact, Apple sold 1.7 iPhone 4's within the first three days it was available in June 2010.  Last week, Motorola, Verizon and Google jointly announced the new Motorola Droid X. Now, T-Mobile is launching Samsung Vibrant -- which runs Google's Android 2.1 -- and which comes bundled with Amazon Kindle.  All of these smartphones are designed to view the internet.

This is important news for law firm marketers and partners, because it means that law firms must develop smartphone-friendly websites. These sites detect that they are being viewed by an iPhone or Android phone, for example, and direct viewers to a stripped-down version of the site that allows for easy resizing of the text, and shrinks graphics to thumbnail size.  Smartphone-friendly sites should not contain Flash, which is unreadable by existing smartphones.

For example, the LawMarketing Portal had a PDA-friendly site since June 2009.  See NEW iPhone App for LawMarketing. In addition, the site features an app for iPhones.  To see a short video demonstrating how the 3-button app works at http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3312595/LawMarketing.mov, (requires QuickTime) allowing visitors to share the content with Twitter or email.

"This is a very important topic.  Most websites look jumbled and disorganized on cell phones," said Dale Tincher, CEO, Consultwebs.com, Inc. "By 2013, mobile phones are expected to overtake desktop PCs as the most common web access device worldwide according to Gartner Research.  The number of smartphone users is expected to triple within two years.  In a short period of time, more than half of all mobile phone subscribers will have instant access to the Internet - even when they are miles from their laptop or desktop computer.  Mobile phone pages are inexpensive to develop." These and other Web trends were covered in the firm's recent newsletter: http://www.consultwebs.com/pdf/CW-2010-Newsletter.pdf

According to Robert Algeri, a Partner at Great Jakes Marketing Company, "Our research shows that a "pared-down" mobile version of a firm’s website (which several companies are touting) might not be the best approach. When you visit www.greatjakes.com via mobile device, you are sent to the mobile splash page, which is optimized for mobile devices. The splash page contains only vital contact information, including our physical address, phone number, link to Google maps and an email link. The splash page also contains a prominent link to “Visit Full Website.” We just posted a blog entry about an alternative solution. See http://bit.ly/aWatdZ.

As smartphone penetration continues to proliferate, consumers will be increasingly using these devices (versus PCs) to access the Internet

• With networks beginning to develop loyalty programs for their shows (via apps, etc.), social media will play a larger role in audience engagement.
• The emergence of other connected devices, including tablet computers like Apple’s popular iPad, will create additional options for media consumption anytime, anywhere.

Matt O'Grady, Executive Vice President, Audience Measurement, says "Consumers are driven by the convenience and quality that today's technology now enables... "