Out running errands last week, I remembered I needed to schedule a doctor’s appointment. I grabbed my iPhone, Googled the doctor’s office and pulled up the website. I then spent (what felt like) several minutes trying to locate the phone number – scrolling and two-finger magnifying like a crazy person…header, footer, sidebars, clicking through pages – I finally got so frustrated I went back to Google and found the number in some third-party physician’s directory. [True Story!]
If you have a smartphone, this probably sounds pretty familiar to you. All you want is quick info – to call, visit, maybe check out a menu…and suddenly you’re going for gold in the Finger Olympics. Frustrating for us, the customer, but even more frustrating for a business owner (who is unknowingly losing potential customers). Truth is, had I had a choice, I would have just said ‘forget it’ and jumped to another doctor’s site. That’s especially harsh when someone’s obviously invested good money in a website.
The take-away here? If you’re a business owner, please take this ‘Mobile Revolution’ business seriously. Whether you use a smartphone or not, your customers do. And this number is only increasing – quite rapidly. It’s actually projected that mobile internet search will overtake desktop search as early as 2014. And what are these mobile searchers looking for? Local information: businesses, stores, restaurants, et al. According to Google’s 2011 Mobile Movement Study, a whopping 95% of smartphone users look up local information – with 88% taking action on these searches within one day.
So, what can you do to be sure your own website is mobile-friendly?
Solution 1: Tweak your existing website:
- First, make certain your website displays on a mobile phone. Flash-based sites or old frame-style sites don’t render well (or at all) on a smartphone. Also many graphic-intensive sites can be slow loading, which increases the chances a visitor will just move on. (Obviously, there isn’t much you can do about this aside from a website redesign, but there IS another solution, as you’ll see below)
- Be sure the pertinent information — such as contact details — is accessible and easy to locate in a place a visitor would expect: namely, the header or footer.
- Finally, be certain the (above) phone number is written in standard web text (making it clickable to call) as opposed to embedded within an image.
Solution 2: Offer a separate Mobile Website that displays to your mobile visitors:
A stand-alone mobile website is built to fit the screen of a smartphone and to meet the ‘quickie information’ needs of this on-the-go crowd. This makes it extremely easy for customers to contact you (especially right when they need you) and shows them you genuinely care about their user experience. It’s the equivalent of rolling out the tiny red carpet and saying “We care…please come on in!”
Not familiar with Mobile Websites? Here’s a little Q & A:
What is a mobile website? A mobile website is a separate, pared-down version of the existing website built to fit the smaller screen of a smartphone. It displays the info most important to a mobile searcher (contact details, directions, opening hours) and typically will have features such as one-tap call, mini contact forms, and Google Maps integration. A mobile site loads very quickly, and is easy to navigate with menus, text and images fitting the small screen.
How does a mobile website work? When a visitor lands on your website using a mobile phone, a script detects the mobile browser and automatically (and seamlessly) switches to display the mobile website. This allows the mobile phone visitors to get a website version more suited to the size of the device they are using – making it easier for them to read your information (and contact you!)
Does it affect my existing website? Not at all. Your existing website remains untouched. It’s a completely separate entity only rendering to those visiting your website from a mobile phone. (Basically just a Mini-Me of your existing website!) Only mobile phone visitors will get the mobile website; computer (and iPad/tablet) visitors still get the full-sized website.
What about things like my Social Media links? Your mobile website can most certainly directly link to your social media accounts. In fact, your mobile website actually links to the mobile version of your social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. You can even embed a YouTube video right into your mobile website if you like.
Can visitors still get to my regular website? Absolutely. In some cases a mobile visitor may actually want or need to see your full website. You can place a link directly on the mobile site allowing them to click out to the full website anytime. (be certain your redirect script accommodates this to avoid infinite looping – but, we won’t get into that here :0).
If you have any additional questions or would like to learn more about Mobile Websites or other digital marketing, please give us a shout!
If you’d like to see it in action, our very own Mobile Chicks have put together a fun little animation & tutorial on Mobile Websites. Enjoy!
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