TheBusinessDesk.com enhances mobile experience

THEBUSINESSDESK.COM has launched a new suite of mobile phone-enabled sites to cater for increasing demand for mobile access by its 250,000 monthly visitors.

The venture launched in the West Midlands earlier this year, following the company’s founding in November 2007 in Yorkshire. It also operates in the North West, with a base in Manchester.

The three sites are the first regional business websites to offer full access to their web news archives as well as their live business directory, and have been optimised to cater for more than 99% of mobile devices.

“The growth in mobile search and the demand from our users for multiple routes to our free content is a very important part of our strategy,” said managing director David Parkin.

The latest development follows the success of TheBusinessDesk.com’s free iPhone app launched earlier in the year.

The business recently announced subscriber levels of more than 50,000 business people in its three regional centres. 

The new mobile sites have been developed by TheBusinessDesk.com web technology partner Rippleffect and can be viewed by users via almost every currently manufactured handset and through any browser.  Users with suitable handsets can also opt to view the site in their full web formats. 

“We have tens of thousands of visits to our online directories every week, and this is another way that our readers can access these resources when they are travelling or away from their desktops. Crucially, advertisers can benefit from the growth in mobile search,” added Parkin.

“As the leading online business media in the industrial heartlands of the Midlands and the North, we have a great platform that we will keep building from.  We are keeping a close eye on trends to ensure we deliver news content in the formats our readers want, first and free,” added editorial director Marc Reeves.  

In September the service sent more than 1.2 million news emails to its readers who viewed over 500,000 pages on the site, and it is continuing to grow its registered user base at a rate of around 8 per cent every month.