Only 1.25 percent of the 240 million websites online are mobile friendly. That statistic kicked off the DMS ’11 Mobile Tools for SMBs panel. Provided by DudaMobile, the company’s CEO and cofounder, Itai Sadan, looks at the statistic and sees a huge opportunity in building mobile websites.

In particular, he sees opportunity in converting clicks to calls. DudaMobile presented data from a survey with SMBs to understand what categories have particularly high rates of click-to-call conversions. When searched on a mobile device, SMB pizzerias experienced a 32 percent average click-to-call rate. Other top categories with high conversion rates were transportation, auto repair and home repair — all with click-to-call rates north of 20 percent.

What’s driving the call to action? Sadan believes it’s about having a call to action prominently on the top of a mobile website — making a click to call easy to find and providing a simple interface. Co-panelist Krishna Pillai, founder and COO of Convergent Mobile, agreed, but took it a step further in saying that driving a call to action is also providing a compelling offer (i.e., coupon) that entices a consumer to take action.

Annette Tonti, CEO of MoFuse, also commented on the move toward mobile websites for SMBs and said she sees three phases right now. Phase one, which she believes is coming to a close, is the thought by SMBs that they do not need a mobile website. The second phase is the understanding by SMBs that they need a mobile website, but they want it to be theirs, meaning a design that is just for them. Tonti feels like Phase 2 is just in the beginning stage, and then Phase 3, down the road, will be SMBs figuring out how to “power up” their sites to the next level.

Tonti continued that traffic is everything, it’s “the currency.” “The No. 1 reason people leave us is because they’re not sure they’re getting the traffic they need,” Tonti said.

Pillai also chimed in about overall marketing. Convergent Mobile, for instance, provides a branded decal to every customer that offers a way for them to promote their SMS short code that users can text to US411. He noted that incorporating the mobile positioning needs to be combined with other current marketing channels. In other words, just as SMBs promote their website, email and the like, they also need to be promoting their mobile presence whether that be a short code or a mobile website.