How To: Create a Mobile Website

Optimize your Marketing with a Mobile Website

Most companies today have their own website. However, not all of them have a mobile-optimized website. Business owners who do not have a mobile website may have cause to be alarmed. This is because studies say that mobile Internet is the future. This means more and more people will soon be getting access to the Internet with the use of smartphones and other handheld devices. Being left behind on mobile trends and social media marketing could mean massive profit loss.

Recent statistics suggests that businesses without a mobile site will be left behind. About 55 percent of smartphone owners use their small-screen devices to surf the web, and about 57 percent said they didn't want to recommend a website that is difficult to access through their phone. With this, business owners have to bear in mind that a bad mobile experience will lose profits and damage the brand as consumers will think that the business does not care about them.

Mobile site and mobile app development can be extremely challenging. The business' current website may be running very well, but owners have to remember that a mobile site is far different. Analysts say that consumer behavior manifested by mobile users is different than that of desktop users. This is mainly due to factors like physical device constraints, the task at hand and the on-the-go environment.

The Three Most Important Factors

There are three basic things that site owners have to take into account when using mobile technology in their marketing strategies.

• Screen Size

Mobile site owners should not take the handheld device's screen size as a limitation in integrating their marketing into mobile technology. However, they should use this as a basis to design their mobile website. This is especially true when it comes to the layout and mobile page's content. The best thing to do is always limit the layout to one column that allows users to just go up and down. Studies say that most mobile users prefer this to scrolling sideways.

• Bandwidth

Generally, mobile networks are slower than high speed Internet connections used at home. With this, loading times are major issues for mobile users. In addition, mobile users are becoming more conscious of their data usage, rates and bandwidth caps. Therefore, site owners should keep their landing pages lighter. However, this does not mean they have to do away with including marketing videos. The just have to give users some options in getting access to higher bandwidth content. A survey says that around 64 percent of phone users want to load mobile pages in as fast as four seconds. On the other hand, 60 percent of those who use tablets expect to wait less than three seconds loading pages.

• User Interface

Mobile users will be using mini keyboards and touch screens when they enter data. This means site owners have to decide beforehand which among the available options they want to appear on their mobile site. Additionally, they should include a link that will take consumers to the desktop site. The manner of presenting buttons and links on the page will determine whether the site is difficult or easy to navigate.

The Rules

The general rule of thumb when it comes to marketing optimization is to be where the consumers are. Mobile technology is becoming a part of everyone's lives round the clock for personal, social or business life. This is why it is the best way to connect with customers now and for many years to come. However, there specific rules that site owners and developers have to follow before they jump into building a mobile website.

• Always start with the basics.

Begin with identifying the consumer's wants and needs. Use these insights to determine relevant solutions before deciding which mobile strategies to use. Also, site owners have to come up with specific business objectives. These are very important in translating the design into a good mobile site.

• Study past data.

Whether the project is an addition to the existing website or a redesign, it is crucial to track the existing website's performance before jumping ahead with a new one. There are many metrics tracking programs that can be used today. It is wise for site owners to make use of them. With this, they will be able to determine things like the browsers and devices that people often use in accessing the site.

This may also include more specific elements like the mobile operating system, cellular network data speeds, browser capabilities, rotation support and screen dimensions, keyboard type and preferred markup language like WAP or HTML. With this, businesses will be able to deliver the content, promotional offers and layout that work perfectly for customers. They can utilize these results and treat them as high priorities in project design, development, testing and site launch. Doing so ensures a high mobile website conversion rate.

• Come up with responsive design.

There are new technologies that allow site owners to create their websites and mobile sites all at once. This is made possible through the use of the latest web technologies such as CSS3 and HTML5. A responsive site design allows the automatic detection when users are trying to get access to the pages with mobile Internet.

It is also important to come up with smartphone-optimized sites that work with Google configurations. This includes sites that have separate desktop and mobile URLs. In addition, Google supports sites that dynamically accommodate all devices under the same URL sets where each URL serves the same HTML on all devices while using CSS to change how the page is delivered. Using Google's recommended configurations provides benefits for businesses that employ them on their mobile site.

• Take note of the limitations.

Generally, users hate long page content that is difficult to display correctly. It is an undeniable fact that mobile users hate scrolling. With this, site owners should decide on breaking up their content or text into chunks and displaying it on other pages instead.

In addition, make sure to provide all necessary information on the mobile site's homepage. It should feature the hours of operations, address and contact number. Otherwise, users will have to go hunting for these details.

Again, it is best to allow mobile users to easily access the business' desktop site. This is for the benefit of users who want to take time to get a better understanding of the company.

• Don't forget the SEO.

Mobile SEO is similar to desktop SEO. Site owners still have to include a meta description, proper title and headlines in the mobile site's pages. Doing so will help them land a higher rank on the search engine results. Although the mobile site's URL is the same as the desktop website, it is rendered differently based on the responsive design concept.

Some of the differences in mobile and desktop SEO are the keywords. Studies revealed that mobile users enter different keywords. Google Analytics can help site owners determine these keywords. Doing so will allow site owners to optimize web pages and drive higher mobile website conversion rates.

Furthermore, site owners should understand that mobile users are less likely to scroll through page two of the search results. This means the mobile sites should ideally appear in the top three on the first page. If not, the business is at great risk of not getting traffic.

These rules may be very challenging to follow, but they are paramount to every business. If you are not able to keep up with these recommendations, contact Stellar Social, mobile design experts who can design your mobile website. Our experts can help businesses stay up and running with the latest mobile trends and social media marketing. We are capable of mobile app development that can help boost your marketing efforts.

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