When mobile Internet was first introduced in the late 90s, it was slow and expensive with only the simplest text display. It wasn't until the launch of the Apple iPhone in 2007 when everything changed and mobile Internet took America by storm with its rich graphics and intuitive touchscreen. Despite the advancements and the ability to access almost any website on mobile phones, mobile users today have higher expectations and demand a more streamlined experience catered specifically to them.

There are 4 key reasons you need a mobile website:

There are millions of people worldwide accessing the web on their mobile phones and the numbers grow daily. During the 2011 Google Mobile Optimization Webinar, Elliott Nix and Shiv Kumar presented data showing how mobile queries in the US have quadrupled in just 1 year. This is hardly surprising when over a third of all Americans now own smartphones, according to comScore's 2012 mobile subscriber report. In fact, one of Gartner's key IT predictions is that more people will be accessing the Internet on their mobile phones than on their computers by next year.

An increasing number of people use their mobile phones to shop, and research businesses and products. In its latest news release, IBM reports that mobile commerce sales doubled over the past year, now accounting for over 13% of total online sales. As it happens, Lightspeed Research found that almost half of all mobile phone users have made a purchase on their mobile phones, and they also use their phones to find the nearest store (80%), compare prices (70%) and read reviews (65%).

Mobile users on the go value speed and expect websites to load quickly on their mobile phones. Desktop versions of websites don't cut it when it comes to loading time because they are often fully laden with images that also eat up bandwidth. Inefficient website coding and excessive information can also cause major delays. Unfortunately, most mobile users don't have the patience to wait even though Internet service is generally slower on mobile phones. A 2011 Compuware study of international mobile phone users found that almost 75% are only willing to wait 5 seconds or less for a website to load on their mobile phones.

You're likely to lose business if people have a hard time accessing and using your website on their mobile phones. In Compuware's study, they found that there were negative consequences associated with a bad mobile experience. If your website is slow or breaks down, 57% wouldn't recommend your business and 40% would turn to a competitor. Another study by Limelight Networks found that 80% of customers researching or purchasing products on their mobile phone will abandon a website if they're not satisfied with their mobile shopping experience, underlining how important mobile website optimization is for e-commerce.