谷歌公司（Google）目前推出了一项新服务，允许企业将自己的网站转换为更适合智能手机浏览的“手机版”。这家搜索引擎巨头希望通过提供更加便利的网站访问，在迅速扩张的移动领域中巩固自己的领先地位。
这项新服务是谷歌“走向移动”（Go Mobile）计划的一部分，该计划主要为了让各类企业更好地运用包括智能手机和平板电脑在内的移动平台。这些企业每月只需花上9美元，就能享受到谷歌提供的移动版网站托管服务。这类网站带有可触控界面，看起来跟iPhone的应用几乎如出一辙。企业可以免费试用这种服务一年，还能让谷歌根据它们现有的网站定制一个手机版网站。丹尼斯?明克是新创公司DudaMobile的首席营销官，他说：“只要是在智能手机上浏览过普通网站的人，都明白那种体验有多糟糕。”谷歌目前正在运用DudaMobile的技术创建移动网站。
总部位于纽约市的食品配送和餐饮连锁店Mexicue正在使用这项服务。现在这家公司网站每周的访问量约达5,000次，而在优化为移动版之前，该公司的移动客户访问非常不便。公司的联合创始人兼首席执行官大卫·施莱斯（David Schillace）表示，这曾是公司的一个大问题。他说：“方便好用的手机版网站对我们的食品配送来说非常重要，因为配送地点是不断变化的。网站上最醒目的两个按键就能让人们拨打电话、找到我们，而这正是我们所有的客户最需要了解的情况。”
谷歌在手机市场的领先地位可谓一家独大。据尼尔森公司（Nielsen）称，美国将近一半手机用户在使用智能手机。其中又有近半的人在使用搭载谷歌安卓（Android）操作系统的手机。近期，谷歌又试图进一步扩大版图。据数码营销机构eMarketer公司称，在总额达14.5亿美元的美国手机广告市场上，谷歌早已遥遥领先，2011年占据了美国手机广告市场超过一半的收入。
而现在，帮助企业将网站优化为手机版让谷歌看到了新的机会。谷歌移动销售及战略部主管杰森·斯皮罗表示，就算现在的智能手机已经装上了功能齐全的浏览器，很多企业还是没有开始涉足手机领域。据他称，谷歌的广告大户中有62%还没有手机版网站。他说：“很多企业还没来得及响应这股用户应用的潮流，而这很大程度上是因为他们不知道到底该怎么做。”
而那些早就迅速紧跟这股移动潮流的企业，它们的努力似乎已经收到了回报。6年前，职业棒球大联盟（Major League Baseball）就组建了一支3个人的团队专门从事手机和无线技术业务。现在，这支队伍已经扩大到近50人，而大联盟每月的无线访问量——包括广受欢迎的“At Bat”应用和手机网站的访问量——已让其官网访问量相形见绌。去年，仅“At Bat”每周平均访问量就达到了820万人次。
无独有偶，鲜花和礼品零售公司1-800-Flowers早在2006年就发布了其首个手机网站，3年后，它又开发了自己的移动应用。从那时起，这家公司就增加了一个全新的社交应用，它与Facebook相联，可以向用户提醒他们朋友的生日。去年，公司还对其手机网站进行了改版，使用户能用更少的点击完成购买。这些改动已让用户的弃购率降低了53%。不过，据公司总裁克里斯·麦卡恩表示，在手机上取得成功的真正关键在于，只要有用户的设备和平台，公司的移动服务就必须迅速跟进。他说：“我们努力根据不同设备的特性创造同样丰富的用户体验。现在，我们甚至在开发独立的平板电脑应用。”
Bazaarvoice是一家社交软件公司，主要业务是为梅西百货（Macy's）和舒旺商城（Schwan's）这类公司提供在线及手机品牌推广分析。该公司首席战略官麦克·斯瓦泰克称，上述公司的做法在手机应用发展初期还能奏效，但现在，企业必须采取更加谨慎的方式。“比较理想的做法是，在开始为各种设备进行定制或直接上马应用程序之前，先建立基准。对有些品牌来说，应用程序毫无意义。毕竟现在应用的数量成千上万，怎么能让用户找到并安装你的应用，而且还定期使用下去？”
然而，这正是谷歌可以大显身手的领域。谷歌已经看到了移动互联网对自己未来发展的重要意义。现在，它可能仍在寻找新途径，为以后充分开发利用这个平台做好准备。
Google launched a new service today allowing companies to transform their websites for viewing on smartphones. The search engine giant hopes that by making sites more accessible, it can improve its lead in the rapidly growing mobile arena.
Google's (GOOG) new service is part of its "Go Mobile" initiative, a campaign to move companies in the direction of making better use of mobile platforms including phones and tablets. For $9 a month, Google will host a mobile-friendly version of a company's website with a touch-enabled interface that almost looks like an iPhone app. Firms can test the service free for a year and customize a new mobile site Google generates from their existing site. "Anybody who has browsed a regular website on their phone knows how bad the experience is," says Dennis Mink, CMO of DudaMobile, a startup. Google is using DudaMobile's technology to generate the sites.
Mexicue, a New York City based food truck and restaurant chain, is using the service. The company's current site gets about 5,000 page views a week, but prior to optimizing the site for mobile, it lacked any sort of easy navigation. That was a problem, says co-founder and CEO David Schillace. "A working mobile site is extremely important for our food truck because it's constantly changing locations," he says. "The first two buttons allow people to call us and find us, which is basically what all our customers need to know," Schillace says.
Google has a strong lead in mobile. Nearly half of U.S. mobile users now own a smartphone, according to Nielsen (NLSN). About half are using phones running Google's Android operating system. The search leader's latest move is an attempt to extend its reach further. The company is already the dominant player in the mobile $1.45 billion ad market, accounting for more than of U.S. mobile ad revenues in 2011, according to digital marketing firm eMarketer.
Google sees an opportunity in helping companies optimize their sites for the mobile web. Even with the advent of fully capable browsers on current smartphones, many companies are still failing to take even the first step into the mobile space, says Jason Spero, head of mobile sales and strategy at Google. According to Spero, 62% of Google's top advertisers don't have a mobile site. "Businesses are kind of late to arrive to this consumer trend, and a large part of that is because they don't know exactly what to do," Spero says.
For companies who were quick to jump on the mobile bandwagon, the effort seems to have paid off. Major League Baseball began six years ago with a staff of three focusing on mobile and wireless technology. Today, that team has grown to nearly 50 people and the brand's monthly wireless traffic -- including the popular "At Bat" app and mobile site -- has eclipsed MLB.com traffic. By itself, "At Bat" averaged 8.2 million visits per week last year.
LIkewise, 1-800-Flowers (FLWS) launched its first mobile site in 2006 before expanding into the apps three years later. Since then, the flower retailer has added a new social app that connects to Facebook to remind customers of their friends'birthdays. The company also revamped its mobile website last year so customers could finish a purchase with fewer clicks. Its changes have decreased shopping cart abandonment by 53%. But the real key to mobile success, says company president Chris McCann, is to be on every device and platform the consumer is on. "We're trying to make a rich user experience according to each different device. Right now, we're even designing a separate tablet experience," McCann says.
That method may have worked in the beginning of the mobile evolution, but business have to take a more cautious approach now, says Mike Svatek, chief strategy officer of Bazaarvoice, a social software company that analyzes online and mobile branding for companies like Macy's (M) and Schwan's. "Ideally, you want to establish a baseline before you start tailoring to different devices or diving into apps," Svatek says. "For some brands, apps just don't make sense. There are hundreds of thousands of apps out there, so how do you get a user to find your app, install it, and continually use it?"
And that's where Google comes in. It has seen how vital the mobile web is to its future. Now, it's likely to keep looking for new ways to exploit it.
