Smartphones have revolutionized the way that people use the internet, with phone manufacturers creating web browsers such as Safari for mobile devices.  Ina Fried of allthingsd reports that mobile devices make up nearly 20 percent of all web traffic in the US and Canada and this number is only going to increase as smartphones become more and more popular.

While its undeniable Apple’s iPad and iPhone are leading the pack with 95% of traffic coming from one of their devices, Windows Phone accounts for a third more traffic as BlackBerry with its powerful browser and larger screen.  In an effort to tap into this increasing market, businesses are now taking the steps to create mobile websites – bringing web customers to the businesses.  Duda Mobile which has helped hundreds of small, locally owned pizzerias enter the mobile web reports that the click-to-call rate is nearly 35%.

Dude Mobile is not only for the local pizza joint.  The company is bringing hundreds of thousands of small businesses to the mobile web giving the businesses a mobile-friendly platform to advertise their business.  Duda, a Silicon Valley/Israeli startup company, recently announced a partnership with Google expanding on Go Mo, which is meant to help bring small businesses into the mobile web fray while covering the cost for the first year of hosting and free customization.

The Go Mo venture expands on Duda, which is able to keep its costs low by using templates that input, automatically, the PC web-version optimized website into the much smaller, less glitzy mobile browser.  With Google’s customization and free hosting, the tech giant is hoping to bring more small businesses into the mobile web market, as “62% of Google’s top advertisers don’t have a mobile side. ‘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,’” said Jason Spero, the head of mobile sales and strategy at Google.

While Google might be the dominant player in the mobile web game, as they are the largest search engine available, HP, Yahoo!, Webs.com, and AT&T have all received licenses from Duda to utilize its service.  These partnerships have led to Duda’s incredible growth: in August 2011 Duda was hosting less than 100,000 mobile websites, in April, Duda’s CMO, Dennis Mink said that number is now up to 1.65 million. And Duda is not limited to business websites–for free any user can create an ad-supported mobile version of their website.  For $9 a month, or through Go Mo, users can access premium features, such as the removal of ads creating a professional and easy to use mobile website.

Smartphones have changed the way that we, as a society, utilize the internet.  With mobile websites, a potential customer can view a menu, find a phone number, or get directions to the business, opening them up to new customers and expanding their business.   Companies such as Duda have introduced an easy to use model of streamlining the information found on a PC-created website and translating it to the lighter, more compact mobile web.  See here for our guide on how to mobilize your website.