| Getting your mobile website up |
| Friday, 03 December 2010 06:51 |
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Ten top tips to getting your site a mobile presence.
Ten top tips to getting your site a mobile presence. Nearly half the world's most popular websites, including Google, BBC, The Sun, Barclays and Facebook, have been redeveloped so they're easy to view on mobile devices. Being mobile lets these sites be easily accessible to the billions of people using their mobile phones to search for information about products and services. Over the last two years, the number of mobile friendly websites grew from 150,000 to more than 3.01 million sites, a growth of 2,000 percent. In comparison, the early growth during the dotcom era —1996 to 1998— was only 1,333 percent, which suggests that the mobile Web will become much bigger than most people currently suspect. With four mobile phones to every PC, the mobile Web could easily outgrow the desktop web very soon.We all know that using a mobile phone to browse the Web for information can be really frustrating and expensive if companies don’t make their websites mobile ready. That’s why businesses like restaurants, bookshops and banks are making it easy for people to search for information about their products and services on their mobile phones. Also, it’s easier than ever to go mobile. New mobile website creation tools on the market are making it cheap and easy for even the smallest businesses to create a mobile website in minutes. Top 10 tips1) Companies wanting their mobile site to make an impact should remember to cater for people with simple handsets — not everyone has an iPhone. Research by Orange and TNS shows that 70% of UK consumers prefer browsers to apps. 2) Build the site yourself to save money. Keep your website simple, yet eye catching and functional. Look for a Web creation tool that is easy enough for a novice to use (unless, of course, you’re an expert Web developer!). 3) Ensure your mobile website can be fully customisable and updated easily on a day-to-day basis. 4) There are a number of products on the market that allow you to create your own mobile website in minutes without technical knowledge. For example, http://gomobi.info provides a fully hosted service for approximately £10 per month. 5) Make sure your website is relevant for mobile phone users. Use a web building product with a template or guide to help make it easy to see what’s relevant for mobile users, like addresses, phone numbers, opening hours, coupons and booking forms. 6) Think through what your mobile site can do for you, then consider the types of features and information you need on your mobile website. Scale these by importance, such as opening hours, address map, news updates, products and services overview or menu, special offers, phone number and call back features. 7) Have a look at other “made for mobile” websites. Look at sites that are relevant to your business and the size of your organisation to get an idea of what you can do. 8) Having a mobile website can tell you a wealth of information about the customer accessing it, such as the device used, the mobile operator and the location they are in. This enables businesses to target services to specific local customers and offer services and promotions. For example, you could send a text to a customer nearby your store and offer a discount on certain products if they buy in the next hour. 9) A mobile website offers great brand profiling opportunities, but ensure your brand and logo look good and not squished on a mobile screen. A good web creation tool will guide you step by step. 10) Choose your site’s domain name carefully to make your site easy to find, use yourname.mobi. The .mobi domain is the only officially domain name for helping consumers find mobile websites. Here are some examples of recommended mobile websites: http://timeoutcafe.mobi http://www.charleysgrilledsubs.mobi http://kkhotels.mobi http://glastonbury.mobi http://fancyapint.mobi http://mobiletheatretickets.mobi
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