As every teenager without a license or car knows, if you're not mobile, you're not going anywhere. This self-evident truth applies itself on a very practical level to websites. In today's incredibly competitive economy, your business needs every edge it can get, and mobile provides that edge. In 2010, more than 70 percent of the world's population had mobile subscriptions, and mobile access to the internet is expected to outpace computers as the preferred gateway to the internet within the next three years. Designing a mobile-friendly website is not a nice extra to provide to your few mobile visitors: it is a must for 2011 and beyond. If your site is not mobile, visitors will move to ones that are.
In today's rough and tough economy, your business needs to be accessible to customers whenever and wherever. Numerous statistics back up this claim. In America, 25 percent of mobile web users don't even bother with a computer when searching the Internet. In India, 59 percent of people prefer to access the Internet with a mobile device, and in Egypt, the number exceeds 70 percent. Like it or not, the world is becoming a mobile entity. In countries where computer-based Internet connections aren't that reliable, mobile access is a forgone conclusion. Most people use mobile devices to access the Internet for:
-Financial services.
-Services relating to location.
-Internet surfing and searching.
-Advertising.
-Listening to music.
-Marketing.
If you own a business that relies heavily on some of these services (such as product vendors or banks), then it is necessary for you to be mobile. But while you might understand the importance of being mobile, you might not know exactly how to create a mobile-friendly website. Here's some helpful information to get you started.
Focus on the layout and content.
A regular website that is non-mobile has more flexibility when it comes to layout, content, and media flair. For example, you can easily design high-quality videos and graphics to your website using Flash. But mobile websites can't use flash because certain mobile devices, such as the iPhone, don't currently support Flash. In fact, a lot of popular mobile devices aren't yet equipped to manage high-tech graphics and programs. Since most mobile devices are small and compact, individuals that use them are looking for quick access to key information, and not a lot of pizzazz. Think about it: if someone is using his mobile device to transfer money from his bank account, he probably doesn't care what the graphics look like. He wants to be able to transfer his money as quickly and easily as possible.
The first aspect of transforming your website is to focus on the content. Drop all the bells and whistles and provide clean and crisp content instead. Your mobile website should load quickly and not exceed any mobile bandwith restrictions. Design your pages to be:
-Are short and compact.
-Lots of text, not a lot of graphics.
-Easy to navigate within your site by browsing so users don't have to use search engines.
-Large content for touchscreen users, especially for links.
Make something new, but keep the old. If programs like Flash and other high-quality media content is important to the success of your website, then don't change a thing. It's important to maintain the brand and image of your website, and you don't make any drastic changes that would turn away repeat visitors. If your brand has already been established, then just create an additional mobile-only website instead. Yahoo has both a non-mobile website and a mobile-friendly website. Their non-mobile website is full of coupons, ads, video, graphics, music and more. But their mobile website is very basic and straightforward. This way, they can maintain their image and brand that they built up with their non-mobile website and also offer a much cleaner and easily accessible mobile website as well. Mobile-friendly websites don't have to be so simplistic that they are unappealing. The overall design just has to be clean and compact.
Highlight mobile applications. Expand your user appeal with mobile apps, the current hot topic in the Internet world. Many large corporations offer "apps" or quick and easy tiny version of their website that allow instant access to all of their products. Applications help create a better, and more thrilling experience for visitors. These days, almost every relevant company offers an app.
Test it out. Not all mobile devices are created equal. When you stroll through the aisles of any electronics store, you can easily see that mobile devices range in size, capability and design. That is why it is important to test out your mobile website on a few different devices. The iPhone is the most popular, and you'll want to make sure your website works well on it. You might want to also consider the Android and Blackberry. See if your mobile website works on different operating systems as well, such as Firefox and Internet Explorer. When you test out your mobile website before introducing it to the public, you risk fewer mishaps and publicity blunders. It can also help you figure out if there are any malfunctions ahead of time.
As a busy business owner, the last thing you want to add on your plate is creating a mobile-friendly website. But if you don't, you could end up falling behind and getting lost in the expanding mobile Internet market. The success of any business relies on the ability to evolve and keep up with the changing times in order to meet customer demands. Well times are changing yet again, and mobilization is the trend of the season.
In today's rough and tough economy, your business needs to be accessible to customers whenever and wherever. Numerous statistics back up this claim. In America, 25 percent of mobile web users don't even bother with a computer when searching the Internet. In India, 59 percent of people prefer to access the Internet with a mobile device, and in Egypt, the number exceeds 70 percent. Like it or not, the world is becoming a mobile entity. In countries where computer-based Internet connections aren't that reliable, mobile access is a forgone conclusion. Most people use mobile devices to access the Internet for:
-Financial services.
-Services relating to location.
-Internet surfing and searching.
-Advertising.
-Listening to music.
-Marketing.
If you own a business that relies heavily on some of these services (such as product vendors or banks), then it is necessary for you to be mobile. But while you might understand the importance of being mobile, you might not know exactly how to create a mobile-friendly website. Here's some helpful information to get you started.
Focus on the layout and content.
A regular website that is non-mobile has more flexibility when it comes to layout, content, and media flair. For example, you can easily design high-quality videos and graphics to your website using Flash. But mobile websites can't use flash because certain mobile devices, such as the iPhone, don't currently support Flash. In fact, a lot of popular mobile devices aren't yet equipped to manage high-tech graphics and programs. Since most mobile devices are small and compact, individuals that use them are looking for quick access to key information, and not a lot of pizzazz. Think about it: if someone is using his mobile device to transfer money from his bank account, he probably doesn't care what the graphics look like. He wants to be able to transfer his money as quickly and easily as possible.
The first aspect of transforming your website is to focus on the content. Drop all the bells and whistles and provide clean and crisp content instead. Your mobile website should load quickly and not exceed any mobile bandwith restrictions. Design your pages to be:
-Are short and compact.
-Lots of text, not a lot of graphics.
-Easy to navigate within your site by browsing so users don't have to use search engines.
-Large content for touchscreen users, especially for links.
Make something new, but keep the old. If programs like Flash and other high-quality media content is important to the success of your website, then don't change a thing. It's important to maintain the brand and image of your website, and you don't make any drastic changes that would turn away repeat visitors. If your brand has already been established, then just create an additional mobile-only website instead. Yahoo has both a non-mobile website and a mobile-friendly website. Their non-mobile website is full of coupons, ads, video, graphics, music and more. But their mobile website is very basic and straightforward. This way, they can maintain their image and brand that they built up with their non-mobile website and also offer a much cleaner and easily accessible mobile website as well. Mobile-friendly websites don't have to be so simplistic that they are unappealing. The overall design just has to be clean and compact.
Highlight mobile applications. Expand your user appeal with mobile apps, the current hot topic in the Internet world. Many large corporations offer "apps" or quick and easy tiny version of their website that allow instant access to all of their products. Applications help create a better, and more thrilling experience for visitors. These days, almost every relevant company offers an app.
Test it out. Not all mobile devices are created equal. When you stroll through the aisles of any electronics store, you can easily see that mobile devices range in size, capability and design. That is why it is important to test out your mobile website on a few different devices. The iPhone is the most popular, and you'll want to make sure your website works well on it. You might want to also consider the Android and Blackberry. See if your mobile website works on different operating systems as well, such as Firefox and Internet Explorer. When you test out your mobile website before introducing it to the public, you risk fewer mishaps and publicity blunders. It can also help you figure out if there are any malfunctions ahead of time.
As a busy business owner, the last thing you want to add on your plate is creating a mobile-friendly website. But if you don't, you could end up falling behind and getting lost in the expanding mobile Internet market. The success of any business relies on the ability to evolve and keep up with the changing times in order to meet customer demands. Well times are changing yet again, and mobilization is the trend of the season.
About the Author:
Moonrise Design is a web design company that helps businesses improve their web presence. Their services include social network development, mobile web design, web application programming, and more.
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