Mobile is the great equalizer, Amy Africa of Eight by Eight said in her keynote presentation at the Forward Technology Conference held Tuesday at the Monona Terrace.

“This is your shot right now (to compete in e-commerce),” Africa said, adding “mobile is a blessing and curse.”

That’s because it can be hard to make a first impression on a 2″x4″ screen, Africa said. She advised the audience to make their mobile sites faster, make them easy for users to serve themselves and pay attention to navigation.

Africa’s insights come from her website usability research, which showed that people shop the same way now as they did 20 years ago.

Scrolling, apps, personal shoppers and email capture were other areas of e-commerce that Africa addressed.

“Do more of what’s working, try new things, side aside a test budget and set clear expectations,” Africa said.

Africa founded the Internet marketing firm Eight by Eight in 2005. Other speakers of the annual conference that serves as the flagship event of Forward Festival included Entrepreneur Jordan Eisenberg and Widen CEO Matthew Gonnering.