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.
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.
Should you mobilize your website or not? That is the million dollar question many webmasters are trying to answer as we speak.
We all know that websites are powerful marketing tools and that your web presence is your most powerful marketing asset.
But does the cost of mobilizing your website justify the potential return?
Recently conducted studies have shown that only 21% of websites are currently optimized for mobile “smart” phone usage.
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Based on that statistic, 79% of all mobile websites now provide less than an ideal viewing conditions for their users.
Device detection, reduced bandwidth considerations, cross-platform compatibility, load time, site navigation and site optimization are just a few of the many factors that need to be considered for ideal mobile website viewing.
Most websites today are designed to be viewed on a 10 to 15 inch wide screen.
Many of these websites when viewed on a 3 inch screen leave a lot to be desired therefore, screen real estate issues also become an issue with mobile web sites.
With over 99 million people in the United States browsing the mobile web, you need to decide whether or not it benefits you to mobilize your website.
Companies charge anywhere from $7,000 to over $20,000 up front for configuration and mobile site design.
In addition, from $400 to over $1,500 per month is being charged by most companies for mobile content and updating services.
If you have a secure e-commerce site, you can expect to pay up to 75% more for the services.
These prices are on the low end of the spectrum. Many companies charge thousands of dollars more for creating an optimized mobile website.
Regardless, consider the cost of NOT investing in mobilizing your website.
The world is going mobile and if your website is not easy to view and use on a smartphone, you’re already at a disadvantage to your competition.
In the near future when an estimated 40% of people are using smartphones, your business could suffer a huge problem.
Deciding whether or not to mobilize your website is a cost benefit decision you need to make sooner rather than later.
Surviving the current recession is something that Internet marketers think about on a daily basis.
Unless you have your head buried in the sand, there is no way you can possibly believe that the recession is over.
Our economic situation is not getting any better but compared to many of the world governments, we are for the moment holding our own.
If you are paying attention to world news, one thing is painfully obvious.
The global economy is slowly going down the tubes and our economy is still on a downward slope.
Overall, economic numbers and activity are on a downward trend.
Anyone who believes our economy is improving is either a propagandist or in complete denial of the facts.
- The real unemployment figures are manipulated, they are actually in the teens.
- Our government “leaders” continue to spend money we do not have.
- They continue to use baseline budgeting gimmicks to trick the uninformed populace into believing we are slashing spending when in fact, they at best barely slowing down the rate of spending.
- Our national debt during the past three years has grown by trillions and it looks like it will continue to do so.
- The Fed continues to print money bringing the value of our dollar down.
- The credit rating agencies are on the verge of downgrading our credit again.
With reduced earnings, underwater home values, less consumer spending, tighter credit and more job losses in the news every day, it’s hard to be optimistic.
We have been told that we are in a “recovery” of sorts. The so called stimulus was at best only a short term band aid.
But, what does “recovery” really mean? Positive job growth? What else?
A real recovery means a steady long term growth of jobs, which in turn promotes an increase in the exchange of products and services.
We all need to be optimistic and realistic to survive the current recession , especially offline and Internet marketers.
There are several ways that marketing can help your business during this recession.
Implementing proper marketing strategies can help minimize the pain.
Here are some tips that can help.
- Cut marketing costs as much as possible during this period.
- Instead of using magazine and newspaper advertising, go strictly digital.
- The post office is in trouble and and costs are rising, so drop the post office mass mailings and change over to email marketing.
- Focus your Internet marketing efforts on low cost advertising such as web based networking and branding.
- Join the social media crowd and use tools like Twitter and Facebook. It’s not necessary to slash your entire marketing budget, just modernize it..
- Spend more of your time and energy towards social media marketing strategies.
- During a long term downturn like we are now experiencing, it’s critical that your return on investment and conversion rates improve.
- Make the search engines and your customers find you faster by updating the content on your web site.
- Implementing some simple Search Engine Optimization like changing your site text, HTML page titles, keywords, phrases, categories, etc. is all you need to do to improve your site ranking.
- Start crunching your time. Time is money in business, so don’t waste it. Wasting time can cost you your business, so use it wisely to make it work for you.
Remember that marketing isn’t a one time event, it’s an ongoing process that never stops.
The best Internet marketers in the country will survive the current recession because they never stop their marketing activities.
If you are optimistic, refuse to “take part” in the current recession and implement the above marketing tips, surviving the current recession can be done without much pain.
