With the popularity of hand-held devices such as iPhones, BlackBerrys and cell phones with web access, many internet users are now surfing the web via a mobile device. However, if your website is designed to fit on a regular computer screen, it’s going to render differently on a small mobile. Many sites are coming up distorted and difficult to navigate on mobile screens. With figures estimating that mobiles devices outnumber PCs three to one, it looks like mobile browsing is the way of the future. You need to optimise your website for mobile browsers.
Mobile networks and hand held devices are still adapting their technology. The rate at which content loads on mobile devices is sure to speed up in the future, and the technology mobile devices use to display websites is also set to evolve rapidly. For now, to make the most of this emerging market, some mobile optimisation is required.
Viewing a website on a small mobile device screen is not just like looking at a mini-website. Despite what network a mobile user might be on, the speeds at which pages appear on small screens are not yet comparable to broadband. Screen dimensions are different, images are slow to download and users are often in a hurry (or else they would be using their computer to look up your site).
Most mobile devices offer users an option to switch images on or off on a site, and readjust the webpage to suit the screen size automatically. For optimum results though, a second version of your site aimed specifically at mobile users will ensure your site appears ideally on smaller screens. People are usually searching on a mobile device for something they want urgently, so save the prettiness for your regular website and maximise functionality on the mobile version.
Mobile usage is particularly important for local business and on-demand services such as household maintenance, florists and food-delivery. While statistics aren’t yet available on Australian mobile web-use, in the US internet use from portable devices is up a whopping 68% from this time last year. In Europe, there is a 38% rise in the use of mobile devices for surfing the web, with Google being the mobile search engine of choice the world over.
Make the small investment into purchasing a .mobi domain name so that you can have an alternative version of your regular website specifically tailored to mobile users. This is the domain extension that makes the device know it's a website made for mobiles.
Mobile users are charged for the amount of data downloaded, so keep the sizes of your web pages small. Eliminate images that take a long time to load, replacing them with small pictures or simple text.
Your regular website is probably laden with information and loaded up with links. The mobile version of your site should have minimal clicks for a user to get the information they want. Locating a link and waiting for another page to load on a mobile device wastes time and money: the faster your information is accessible, the more frequently people will return to your site from their mobile device.
Only the most basic and popular pages should be optimised for mobile use. People aren’t going to be browsing archives or downloading images of your staff party from their mobile device, but they will want to know what you do and how to get hold of you. Make sure you include phone numbers in the meta tags, as they increase your search ranking on iPhones.
The home page of your company’s main site may have borders and padding to make the content best fit the average screen, but for mobile users you’ll have to reduce all the margins for a small screen.
Rather than trying to impress with stylish and high tech design skills, aim to deliver information efficiently with your mobile website. Layout tables, one of the oldest and most basic methods of website layout, are your best bet.
The fewer colours you use for a mobile site, the better. Combinations chosen should have good contrast to render well.
TIP: Make sure you test the site on a variety of mobile devices.