Table of Contents
As many of you will probably already have heard, Apple have indeed released the iPad Mini today, as the rumours suggested. Now, if you’ve had a look at the device on the Apple website, then you might have already fallen in love as it is extremely good looking as usual. However, there is a bigger thing to think about if you run a website when it comes to the iPad mini as it will actually affect all webmasters and internet marketers in a number of ways. So, while you might have been busy admiring the latest product from Apple, it is important to think about your online businesses too.
Here are a few of the ways that we think it could affect you as a webmaster and internet marketer.
#1 – Screen Size
Now, a lot of people will not have much of a probably with this one as a lot of websites now either have a mobile version of the site, or are fully responsive. Chances are that if you are a successful webmaster, you have thought about mobile users at some point. If you haven’t, you already have a much bigger problem than the release of the iPad mini as I’ve found that almost 1/3 – 1/2 of visitors are now using tablet PC and mobile devices.
If you haven’t got a responsive website, then you need to think about whether your website is going to be compromised on the smaller screen of the iPad Mini. We are sure that Apple will soon take hold of a large chunk of the smaller tablet PC market with their iPad mini device so chances are that a lot of people are soon going to be visiting your website using the smaller screen size of the iPad mini.
Sure, the screen resolution of the iPad mini might be the same as that of the iPad 2, but where your website might have looked ok on the iPad 2, the iPad mini still has a significantly smaller screen which is going to make navigation harder for people unless there is some sort of mobile optimised version of the site in place.
#2 – More Mobile Visitors
Following on from the point above, it is highly likely that over the next 6 months or so, you are going to see even more mobile visitors than ever. Yes, this would be the case without the iPad mini being released as tablet Pc’s (including the original iPad) are getting more and more popular each day and now, it seems that almost everyone has one of these devices.
However, with the iPad mini, more and more people are going to have a tablet PC device than before. We’re talking about the people that couldn’t really afford the iPad and can now opt for the slightly cheaper version; the iPad mini. This means that rather quickly, we expect more of the population to have tablet PC devices and surely, competitors will start releasing more products to compete with the iPad mini too, meaning that soon, everyone really will have a tablet PC.
Personally, I see the tablet PC market going the same way as Smartphone markets have gone. Who do you know that doesn’t have a Smartphone apart from maybe your grandparents? No-one probably. This will be the case with tablets and it means that more than ever, you need to start optimising for these mobile visitors on various screen resolutions and sizes in many different ways.
#3 – A New Market
As you get more mobile visitors, you are actually exposing your website to a new market. These mobile visitors might want different products to people that are visiting your website on a desktop or laptop computer from the comfort of their own homes and you need to be aware of this as an internet marketer. Of course, this has been true with the original iPad, the iPad 2 and the iPad 3, but the iPad mini will actually expose your website to a slightly different market than these two products.
As mentioned before, the iPad Mini is probably going to appeal to those who can’t really afford a full size iPad and those that would also like to be able to own a super-portable device. This means that the iPad mini is probably going to be bought by those regularly on trains, planes and other forms of transport; i.e. travellers. These people might also have slightly less money to spend than owners of the original iPad so it might be worth thinking about what they want as an internet marketer, especially if you quickly find a lot of visitors to be using the iPad mini.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the iPad Mini will certainly change things and although it won’t be much to worry about just yet, it just shows how mobile the world is becoming. The fact that Apple has even created the iPad mini shows that people are getting more and more mobile and strangely, so many people are not prepared for these mobile visitors and don’t have mobile optimised websites. If this is the case, you truly are already losing customers and visitors because of the lack of optimisation and the iPad mini is just going to see that gap get bigger.
Anyone who hasn’t optimised their website for mobile users within the next few months is really going to get left behind, more than ever before.
