You’ve probably noticed this, everywhere you go, you see people carrying glowing pieces of glass—their mobile devices bring them the latest information and enable them to stay connected wherever they go. Is your website ready for a mobile audience? Here are 10 reasons why you should seriously consider a creating a mobile website in 2011:

1. There are 83 million people on the mobile web
According to Nielsen’s State of the Media Report, dated Jan. 5, 2011, there are now 83 million mobile web users. That’s an audience too large to ignore.

2. Smartphones are now outselling PCs
And that means 83 million isn’t the cap on the mobile market. IDC reports that smartphone sales in the 4th quarter of 2010 were up 87% from the year prior beating out PC sales for the first time.

3. Mobile websites reach all audiences, apps do not
Apps are cool, but they have several drawbacks. For one, you have to make an app for each platform you target. That means maintaining at least three apps—one for iPhone, one for Android, and another for Blackberry. And they have to be installed. How would you like it if you had to install an app each time you visited a link on Google? ComScore supports this in a recent finding that people use the mobile web more regularly than mobile apps. Mobile websites don’t have any of these app problems—every modern smartphone has a browser, so everyone can view your mobile website and your entire audience is immediately just a tap away.

4. Smartphone traffic will boost your overall traffic
When your company has a mobile website, you become more accessible to your target audience resulting in what marketers call “lift”. You can significantly increase your overall audience loyalty by being available wherever and whenever they want to access your site.

5. Most websites’ mobile traffic grew by 50-100% this year
Yes—more mobile phones means more mobile phone users. A Quantcast study showed that mobile web use more than doubled in 2010 (110% annual growth). It’s likely to grow even more in 2011 as smartphones continue to saturate the market.

6. There will be more mobile vs web users in 3 years
Everyone is going mobile, making it more important than ever to have a mobile-optimized website. Morgan Stanley’s Internet Trends research report found that use of the mobile web on smartphones is growing so rapidly that it will exceed desktop web in 2014!

7. Your website might be hard or impossible to use on mobile
Most websites are very hard to use, and some are simply broken in a mobile browser. Mobile browsing is all about a good experience. If you’re curious how your website looks on a mobile phone, test out your website with our free mobile website grader tool.

8. 43 million people check e-mail daily via mobile
When your customers click on a link to your website from a mobile e-mail client, will it be visible, accessible, and optimized? If you have your customer’s attention in their inbox, catch them in the moment and allow them to tap your links in their inbox and immediately see your mobile-optimized website.

9. Even if you don’t go mobile, your competitors will
Going mobile is a hot trend right now, even if your company doesn’t get one soon, chances are your competitors will. Don’t be left behind.

10. Reach your audience on the go
If you pride yourself on quality customer service or great products, why not make your website accessible to your customers on the go. If you don’t have a mobile website, your customers can only view your website when they are sitting down. How much of your day are you on your feet or on the move?