Creating An Effective Mobile Website
If you haven’t yet created an effective mobile website for your business that mirrors the same basic goals as your existing website; what are you waiting for?
Well over 70% of the world population now owns a mobile phone and a good majority of them are “smart phones”.
This trend suggests that mobile web browsing has become the norm for consumers worldwide.
If you don’t yet have a mobile website or if your current mobile website isn’t as effective as you hoped it would be; it may need some tweaking.
Below are some suggestions for creating an effective mobile website.
- Make sure you publish the right content for your audience.
Examine your existing website and edit the copy for mobile phone use.
Decide what specific information on your site is necessary to meet your customer’s needs and use that information on your mobile website.
Condense the content and eliminate any unnecessary verbiage so that busy smart phone users can more easily digest the information.
- Don’t make things complicated.
Many webmasters with dazzling online websites don’t do well on a mobile website.
Mobile website design should be kept as simple as possible.
Smartphone users are “on the go” people and opt for speed not “bling”.
They want data to load quickly once they get into your site and they don’t care about the glitz.
With limited exception, images that take a long time to load, graphic buttons and flash should always be avoided.
If your site was designed with flash and java script, you need to re think using it on your mobile website.
- Limit your scrolling
Instead of making your visitors scroll around your site to find additional information, use text links to direct them to their location.
Scrolling on smartphones isn’t a big problem, but it is on some feature phones.
The best bet is to limit your scrolling and use text links instead. Don’t forget to use a text link back to your online website.
- For an effective mobile website, use SEO
Keyword optimize your URLs, heading tags, meta tags, etc.
Many people will be using mobile search engines or search applications to find your site, so it’s a good idea to ensure that your site is properly Search Engine Optimized if you want to have an effective mobile website.
- Don’t forget to use mobile social media applications on your site.
A small Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook button will not appreciably slow down your site from loading quickly and is a benefit to viewers who want a quick link to their social media accounts.
It is NOT a good idea to put social media feeds into mobile websites.
- Install a Blog optimizer Plug-in
There are blog plug-ins available that can be installed on your blog that will automatically optimize it for the smaller mobile browsers.
Blogs are arguably one of the best tools you can have for marketing your website, especially when used in conjunction with an effective mobile website.
The plug-ins eliminate the need for you to create a blog specifically for the mobile browsers.
- Make sure your that your mobile website can be easily viewed on a variety of mobile browsers.
Some sites don’t look as good on a mobile browser as they do on your desktop hardware. And some mobile websites that look good on an iPhone, may leave a lot to be desired when viewed on a Blackberry.
A really effective mobile website is one that will look good on the majority of mobile browsers.
It’s apparent that browsing the web from mobile “smartphones” has quickly become the norm for consumers around the world.
Why go to your laptop or desktop computer to look for a birthday present you forgot to buy, when you can just search for it on your smartphone?
The need for creating an effective mobile website has become a necessity in this day and age.
