The argument that 'Mobile is the Future' has won so completely that it's more fact than fiction. The world is so obsessed with the latest gadget that it becomes worldwide news when the iPhone 5's mapping system falls apart after dropping Google's system to go out on their own.

It's obvious enough to anyone who has done a side by side comparison of the two mapping systems that Google has Apple beat straight across the board. So why did Apple break away and risk so much to do their own mapping? It might have something to do with the 1 Billion iOS devices projected to be in homes worldwide by 2015.

Regardless of who has won which aspect of the ever-shifting mobile war, what's truly important is that you know the two major players in this area of search - Google and Apple. And now is the time to shift focus away from your Google listing for a few minutes and be sure your Apple maps result is established. Here's how we recommend you do that.

1. Check your listings the different i-devices. Get your hands on an iPhone and an iPad and search for your business in their Maps. We don't care if you have to borrow one. Then be sure to do all the important searches that include all the different combinations of your business name, address, city, state, phone number and even zip code.
2. Correct any issues with your listings. Once you find your business listing be sure it's accurate. Just like with Google Maps, your data needs to be consistent across the board. If it's not accurate do what you have to and get it updated and correct.
3. How are your reviews? So far Apple pulls reviews and business images directly from Yelp. This means that once again you're assigned with the task of growing out your Yelp listing. Good news is that Apple is quick to include new reviews and images as soon as they're added to Yelp. Unfortunately, this can be a double-edged sword if you have negative reviews or images you don't want projected to every iPhone user worldwide.

On a side note, if you can't get your hands on an iPhone or an iPad then you need to make the jump and buy one. This is not only the future of search, it's also moving as fast as anything online ever has. This means that if you don't own a smart phone, an iPhone, and/or an iPad for testing purposes then you aren't taking any of this seriously and are going to miss this shift regardless of which industry you're in.

Once you've got them in your hands then besides looking at your local listings, be sure to cruise over to your sites and see how they look as well. This will push you to get your sites updated to responsive design and looking great. If you need incentive or something to convince the guys upstairs - check out this case study released documenting the 42.4% revenue growth across all channels that was seen with the shift to a responsive design. You can thank us later.

If you are looking for some support when you decide to shift your site's design to being responsive, just let us know.