Making Mobile Better: Just Being There is No Longer Enough

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The inevitable has finally happened.

As was expected, people are now using their mobile devices to access the internet more than they use their desktops. Predictions state that by 2017, 85% of the global population will have 3G coverage.  If you’re a business owner this only reinforces the fact that you must have a mobile presence. It’s no longer a question of whether or not you should have a responsive site: responsiveness is now the minimum requirements — you absolutely should have one.  A dedicated mobile site is even better.

Mobile marketing is no longer an add-on enhancement or a separate channel, it’s now core technology that you need to invest in. Keep in mind that people aren’t just using their mobile devices because they’re “on the go.”  The vast majority of mobile searches are taking place when a desktop computer is nearby – maybe even on the desk in front of you!

Making sure that your mobile site is user-friendly is of fundamental importance for success, i.e., garnering new customers and turning them into repeat customers. If you’re a business owner you will be unhappy to learn that you may be losing more than half of your potential customers if they have an unpleasant experience on your mobile site. Customers are now demanding a simpler and more fluid interface when browsing on their tablets and phones.

Appearance is important, obviously, but it’s not everything. Having a polished and uncluttered site is great, but if your visitor doesn’t find what they’re looking for then you won’t get the return you’re looking for. There are a number of things you can do to improve the user’s experience on your mobile site:

1. Don’t try to recreate your desktop site on exactly. Remember that most mobile users are not reading novels on their devices. Rather, they’re using their tablets and smartphones to research your products and services and make a decision.  Your mobile site should facilitate this process.
2. Take only the content most relevant to mobile visitors and organize it in concise, easily navigable pages.  Don’t overwhelm mobile uses with a gigantic menu – a few key choices and no deeper than one dropdown layer works best.
3. Make sure your pages are light and quick to load.  Speed is even more important for mobile users, who may be browsing over slower connections.  There are many things you can do to improve mobile site performance, from optimizing or compressing images to using a Content Delivery Network.

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