By AJ Hall

YNOT EUROPE – The word “mobile” has been popping up an awful lot over the past few years. That’s not without reason. For our industry, the mobile push means there’s a new medium for delivering adult content, and this is a very good thing.

As we head into 2012, use of mobile phones is so common that if a site isn’t mobile-compatible now, it’s already a couple of years behind the times.

Just about everyone we consider a potential customer has something in common: They own a mobile phone. Over time, we’re becoming more dependent upon our phones for communication, organization, information and personal interaction. Many of us are practically glued to our phones. And now we’re on tablets and portable devices, too. We check email at stoplights, surf the web while waiting at the car wash, talk while walking the dog or text while crossing the street. Visit a resort hotel on a sunny day and you can expect to see a number of people lounging poolside, staring into the sleek face of an iPad.

For a growing number of consumers, a large amount of shopping and entertainment already is happening on mobile devices. This will only increase with time. The change in behavior and online habits brings with it a new set of expectations. We almost automatically assume that any site we like is going to be viewable on our phone, and we’re disappointed when it’s not.

As a site owner, it’s extremely important to stay up to date and keep customers happy. This means offering mobile versions of your sites or, at the very least, making sites mobile-compatible.

It’s no secret that staying current is important for any online business. A site that’s up to date with current trends, methods and technology has a standard version that works on a PC or Mac and is able to serve embedded video via HTML5 for iPad users. An up-to-date site also has a separate version with mobile-compatible content and a presentation specifically designed for mobile devices, primarily the iPhone, Droid, BlackBerry and other popular smartphones. If you’re not doing this yet, take comfort in the fact that about 90 percent of the adult industry isn’t doing it yet, either. Trust me when I tell you the other 10 percent don’t mind that you’re not mobile. They’re reaping the rewards of being first to exploit the fast-growing mobile market, and they hope you’ll miss the boat entirely so they can keep all the money for themselves.

Since the market isn’t saturated yet, there isn’t a whole lot of competition. This makes now the perfect time to start building a mobile customer base.

Don’t let not having a ton of mobile traffic discourage you. The question isn’t whether you have mobile traffic, but how much of it you could have. Over the next 12 months, the amount of mobile web surfing will increase dramatically, just as it did over the previous 12 months.

Modern consumers want to choose how they access a site, be it on their computer, iPad or cell phone. Giving them more choices means more sales opportunities. Many site owners are surprised to find that once they announce mobile versions of their sites, the number of mobile visitors increases.

Several companies will do the work of converting your sites to mobile on a partnership basis, taking a percentage of your earnings — up to 50 percent — in exchange for getting your operation “mobilized.” Depending on the company, its services may include everything from video encoding to total site management.

If you prefer to keep 100 percent of your profits, you can do the work yourself. There’s a learning curve and some work involved to encode videos and create a website that looks good and performs well on mobile devices, but if you’re willing to learn and time is not a huge concern, this may be an option to consider.

Another option is to use software that automates the process. A product like the Elevated XCMS runs on your server and does all the work for you. It encodes your videos into mobile formats with one click and builds and updates a mobile version of your site automatically, including tours and member’s areas. The results are compatible with most mobile devices, including iPads.

Whichever option you decide to use, doing some research will help you make the best decision for the long-term growth and stability of your business.

Giving customers what they want and what they expect means making smart use of new technology. Mobilizing will help keep your business competitive and thriving. Plus, if your competitors aren’t mobile yet — and chances are they’re not — you’ll have a very big advantage.

AJ Hall is a 12-year adult industry veteran and the co-founder and chief executive officer of Elevated X Inc., a leading provider of adult CMS software for the online adult entertainment industry. More than 2,000 adult sites use the product. Hall welcomes feedback and questions via email.