When I first launched the Madman of Magic comic book I received several congratulations for finally launching (I had been hyping it for a month) and people wanted to let me know they loved the webcomic. In one of those emails I received the dreaded, “the comic book looks great, but the site doesn’t work on my phone”.
NOoooooooooo!
I had forgot to make sure the site was mobile friendly before launch. I quickly did some adjustments to the WordPress theme and did a little bit of adjustment on the coding, but I have it to a level where people can now read it on their phones. It isn’t the best mobile friendly user experience but I plan on fixing this sometime in the near future.
Why such a big deal about mobile?
It’s not often you get the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a new trend, but it’s important to realize now that having your WebComic mobile friendly is still new enough to make it a bit of a novelty.
But beyond the novelty factor, it just makes good marketing sense.
By being mobile friendly you increase your opportunity to get noticed by new readers. Let’s do the math on this; Earth’s inhabitants have been estimated at around 6 billion but there are almost 5 billion documented, active mobile subscriptions. (Compare that with only 1.2 billion Personal Computers on the planet!)
That’s almost 70% of the planet’s inhabitants with access to a mobile device of some sort.
What this tells us is that a large segment of your potential readers use their mobile device significantly more often than their computer. If you’re depending solely on the internet via traditional websites to reach your potential fans, you may actually be missing your target market (those most likely to enjoy your wecomic).
Mobile devices are already on their way to surpassing computers as the way people communicate across the globe, and it doesn’t take an industry expert to confirm that. Even in third world countries, a mobile phone is usually far more affordable and attainable than a computer.
More numbers to think about:
- 46% of readers are unlikely to return to a mobile if it didn’t work properly during their last visit.
- 80% don’t leave their home without their mobile device.
- It’s been stated that 75% of people have used their mobile phone while on the toilet at least once. (a perfect time to read a WebComic)
- Mobile internet usage will overtake desktop by 2014.
These numbers are from http://mobilemixed.com/what-small-businesses-need-to-know-about-mobile-marketing/
This is why I plan on adjusting my WebComic to make it as mobile friendly as possible (including having to adjust this site as well). You might consider doing the same.
Over the next few months, while I am adjusting and learning to make my sites mobile friendly, I plan on posting more articles on the subject. If you have any specific questions feel free to submit them in the comment section below.
Thanks and have a wonderful day!
