Tag Archives: Proper Planning

4 Mobile Website Tips

New and advanced technologies are paving the way in terms of businesses and commerce growth.  New and improved digital platforms are being created every day to help businesses reach out to their target market and generate more sales.

If you think digital technologies have advanced at lightning speeds over the past decade, wait until you see what’s in store over the coming months and years. Recent research shows that digital media and technology is expected to grow at even faster rates in the next few years.

One of the main forms of digital growth being seen today is mobile device usage. Everyone uses their mobile phones every single day – several times per day.  But mobile phones are no longer just for making phone calls. In fact, people are spending more time surfing the web via their mobile devices today than ever before.

While on the go, people tend to look for local business information right from their mobile devices. This means they are looking at mobile websites. Unfortunately, most businesses do not have a mobile-friendly website yet. In fact, many of them are not even aware that their websites are almost impossible to view on most mobile devices.

Here are a few tips to help you think about how to start mobilizing your web presence:

  1. Check for Mobile Plug-ins

 

  • If your website is a Content Management System like WordPress, check out some of the mobile plug-ins that may be available to mobilize your website. Plug-ins have to be configured correctly in order to work so use caution if you are doing it yourself.

 

  1. Create a Separate Mobile Version of Your Website

 

  • If you have an HTML website, it’s best to have a mobile version of your website built. This way, whenever someone tries to go to your website from a mobile device, they will be directed to the mobile version instead of your main website. This will allow them to have a pleasant experience and find exactly what they need without a bunch of hassle.

 

  1. Don’t Use Flash on Your Mobile Website

 

  • As much as possible, avoid using flash application on your mobile website as it isn’t supported by most mobile settings. In addition, flash makes your website take forever to load, which makes the viewer leave the site out of frustration. So if you want to attract visitors to your website, don’t do flash.

 

 

  1. Only Include Important on Your Mobile Website

 

  • Since mobile phone screens are relatively smaller compared to a computer, you can only put so much information on a mobile website. Therefore, think about what your potential customers would be looking for when they visit your website on their mobile devices. Most people who are “on-the-go” are usually looking for a phone number, hours of operation, or an directions to your establishment. So make sure information such as this is readily available on your mobile website.

How to build a massively successful mobile web site

HTML5 is considered by many the future of mobile web design. It has been heralded as the mobile web’s saviour by more than a few bloggers and fortune 50 companies (Silicon Angel, Mashable and Apple).

Leveraging a post from a fellow mobile web app advocate (Pinch/Zoom) I am going to quickly walkthrough what it takes to build out the correct infrastructure for a massively successful mobile web app. This is not meant to be a technical discussion but more of a commentary on the key point made in the original blog post.

Device Detection

The core to device detection lives within a file that outlines all the different user agents (mobile software provider). Your user agent script needs to always be updated to reflect the changing market conditions, especially now thatGoogle has purchased Motorola.

Offline Browsing

15% of all mobile browsing is done offline so it is important to think about how the data is cached on the phone and how many levels deep someone can browse. By having a offline mobile data strategy you can guarantee that your users’ experience is optimal even when data connectivity is lost.

Interactions and Transitions

Javascript and CSS are the main building blocks to a solid user experience. With tools like jQTouch, Sencha Touchor jQuery Mobile making mobile sites look and interact beautifully is easy. However, these libraries are just a base to build off of, the first step is to identify the your mobile business objectives. After you have identified your business objectives you can pick and choose the components that support those objectives, giving the customer what they want, when they want it.

Conclusion

When considering your mobile marketing strategy you should consider:

  • Device Compatibility – Native apps only work on 1 device type, mobile web apps work on all devices
  • First identify business objectives, then build interactions to fulfill those goals
  • Have a offline mobile data strategy to ensure your visitors experience is consistent whether they have connectivity or not.
  • Consider the options. Without proper planning any technology project can be expensive, especially a mobile one. By focusing on what your customers need you can optimize your marketing and technology dollars in the most efficient manner.