MX iTunes, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store

What Should You Know If You're Thinking Of A Mobi-Site?

By Sam Hallahan


Mobile phones have become one of the many essential tools when browsing the internet these days. Consumers can access the internet almost anytime, anyplace, and anywhere. Because of this, the layout and design of the website must be readable and understandable to the user. To do this, some consumer-focussed companies have followed certain procedures where they have re-designed their websites with the mobile user in mind. These procedures will ensure trouble-free and enjoyable browsing by the user.

The layout of the new mobi-site is important. Browsing through a mobile site takes time, so it is imperative to put all of the most important information you want mobile users to see on the top of the page. It is helpful to the user to design the content in a single column layout because left/right navigation is difficult on a phone. The use of tables should also be taken into consideration, but if you do need to use them, use no more than 2 columns, and steer clear of row and column merging.

The content of a mobisite should be easy to read, navigate, and understand. This is because the user is almost certainly moving around while using the site, so they need to be able to access information with ease. The typography used will make all the difference, as will altering the text so that the user doesn't have to zoom in. If images and graphics need to be used, it is best to use them in .jpeg, .gif, or .png format which do not take a long time to load. To avoid zooming, it is advisable to compress images being used with the addition of users should have the option of whether they browse with the images turned off.

Coding is another vital part of a mobisite. Developers coding a mobile site will often use either XML or XHTML as these offer the easiest and most functional platforms for the site. Target keywords should be used to represent title tags, heading tags and filenames, and description meta tags.

Simplicity is the key when assigning a style for a mobile website. It is important to keep page sizes small and to remember that the maximum page size for a mobile page is merely 20 Kb, so it is advisable to make everything fit, and if possible, use less than 10 Kb. Users usually get charged per KB of mobile web data, it is important to bear this in mind when designing a mobisite. With mobile web usage being all about quick and convenient access to mobisites, the essential ingredient for a good mobile website design is the feature of back buttons and links, which ensure fast and relevant links to other sites and in turn, ensuring the efficient and convenient service of your mobisite.




About the Author:



0 comments: