About
05/19/2011 Authored by: Jeremy Girard
Time to Get Mobilized
As the Director Web Development for Envision Technology Advisors, a question I often get asked by clients is:
“Do I need a mobile website?”
You may have asked this question yourself – so let’s take a look at a few statistics:
- Manufacturers are now shipping more mobile browsers (on devices like phones or tablets) than PC-based ones and mobile is expected to overtake PCs as the most popular way to access the Web within the next 5 years.*
- 25% of subscribers in the US use only their mobile device to access the Web and this number is even higher overseas (59% in India and as much as 70% in Egypt). **
- As of 2011, over 90% of mobile subscribers in the US have phones that can access the Mobile Web. **
- The most popular activities on the Mobile Web are search and social networking, while those expected to gain popularity include B2C activities and financial transactions like money transfers and payments. **
- Financial activities are expected to be one of the fastest growing segments of mobile use with 1 billion people accessing financial services on mobile by 2015. **
Do you need a mobile website? Yes, at the very least you need a mobile site, but to really be successful, you need to go beyond just “a mobile website.” You need a mobile strategy.
Getting Started
So how do you get started with a mobile strategy? You begin by looking at your current website and asking a question:
“What content is important to mobile users?”
Keep in mind this is not the content that your company thinks is important from a marketing or sales perspective, this is the content that your users want to see.
You may want to promote your CEO’s latest blog post, but if visitors are looking for contact information and directions, then featuring that blog post instead of your address and phone number will create a roadblock for your users.
Come up with a list of sections or features of your website that are relevant to the Mobile Experience and be realistic about what should be included – no one visiting your site on a phone is looking for your Mission & Vision Statement.
The Mobile Web Experience
As you consider the content that is important, you should also understand how your audience will interface with that content and the challenges they will face.
- Small screen sizes
- Unreliable networks
- The need to “touch” instead of “click”
- Distractions all around
Mobile users are looking to get very specific information very quickly – a term I have heard referred to as “data snacking.”
Limit the content on your mobile site to only what is important to your users and be mindful of the challenges before them and you will go a long way to helping your site be a success.
Mobile Strategies
A simplified look at your choices for Mobile Strategies:
1. Do Nothing
Your “desktop” website is shown on mobile devices with no changes. This is the easiest solution, but it often leaves your users with a poor experience if your website was not designed with the mobile experience in mind.
2. Same Site, Optimized for Mobile
The second approach is to change the display of your website for mobile users. You can rearrange how the site lays out on smaller screens and even turn-off entire areas of the site that may not be relevant to a mobile visitor.
The advantage to this approach is that you have only 1 site to maintain, so it is easier to keep branding and messaging consistent, but if 90% of your content is not appropriate for mobile, this may not be the best strategy.
3. Separate Mobile Site
The final approach you can consider is a separate mobile-only website. The downside to this approach is that you now have multiple sites to maintain and consistency becomes a challenge, but if only a small amount of your content is relevant for mobile, this is often the best choice.
All of these strategies have their strengths and weaknesses. What works best for some may not be right for others. Working with a team of Web professionals like Envision will help you identify which approach is right for your company.
Beyond Mobile
While a mobile strategy is important, thinking about your website as only “desktop” or “mobile” is too narrow a view. What about a device like the iPad? It is technically a mobile device, but its screen size is closer to a desktop than a phone. What about Web-ready devices like gaming systems? I’ve even seen images of a new refrigerator that will have a touch-screen and Web access on it. Is your website going to be fridge-friendly?
The landscape for websites is changing in ways much more dramatic than simply big desktop screens versus tiny phone screens. People are choosing to access the Web in a variety of ways and our websites need to respond accordingly.
One of the most exciting developments I have seen in Web design in the past few years is an approach called “Responsive Web Design.” Through advancements in modern browsers and some smart website code, we can create websites that “respond” to the visitor’s device.
If someone comes to your site on a mobile device with a small screen, the website’s layout and content presentation can respond to the needs of that user. That same webpage can then respond to another user who is accessing the site on a wide-screen monitor in their office. And yes, the same page can respond to users between those two extremes - from iPads to netbooks to gaming consoles to household appliances. If properly built with a responsive approach in mind, your website can meet your users where they are instead of forcing them to conform to the limited scope of simply “desktop” versus “mobile” sizes.
The web is changing and growing each day – what is your strategy for how your website will respond?
Comments
There are no comments on this post at this time. Write us one below!