Mobile Website FAQ

The latest stats are truly staggering. There are now more than 5 Billion cell phones in use worldwide, and about one billion of these are capable of connecting to the internet.In fact, there are more internet-connected mobile devices than there are desktop and laptops combined.Because the use of mobile devices is steadily rising, it’s important that every business considers building a mobile-friendly website. Those that don’t, risk losing business to those that do… it’s just that simple.While all businesses could benefit by having a mobile-friendly web site, some business types will benefit more than others.

Designing a mobile website can be a real challenge

There are so many inconsistencies between the devices used to access your website.

Some have very small screens and others, like iPads have larger screens that can view sites in “landscape” format.

Some can view Flash-video content, and some, like the devices from Apple, cannot.

Some have relatively fast processors and full-featured browsers, and some have neither.

Most do not have a full-sized keyboard, if they have a keyboard at all. Because of this, it’s important your mobile site be optimized for “touch screens.” This segment represents the fastest-growing segment of mobile devices and nearly all of the new devices in production use touch-screen technology.

In general terms, here are the main things to consider when considering your mobile site’s design:

• Your site should have a “flexible” layout… one that expands or contracts depending on the size of the mobile screen viewing it.
• The layout should not require the user to scroll left-to-right, nor should it require them to “zoom-in” or “zoom-out” if possible.
• Your site should be easy to navigate through the user’s touch screen.
• Your contact information should be easily found, and all of your phone numbers should use the “Click-to-Call” feature.
• Each page of your mobile site should be optimized to yield a small file size. Many devices have slow processors and will “slow to a crawl” if your pages are large in file size.
• If your customers come to your business location, consider adding a “Google map” or some other functionality that will make it easy for your mobile visitors to find you.
• Don’t use “Flash” for any element on your mobile site. If you do, some users simply will not be able to see it. Instead, consider either removing the “dynamic” content altogether, or simulating the effect through Javascript.

Most mobile devices are Javascript-enabled, and will properly display the content.

After we’ve built your mobile site, you’ll want to ensure that it can be found by your target market. Fortunately, some exposure can be achieved automatically.

Some website owners choose to put a “clickable link” on their regular site that reads something like, “Click Here for our Mobile Site.” If the visitor clicks the link, the mobile-friendly website is displayed.

Personally, we don’t like this approach. Why force the visitor to see the “mobile-friendly” website when they are using your desktop site? It makes no sense. Tell them in your ‘blog’ that you now have a mobile-friendly web site so they can now have a better viewing experience when they use their smartphone.

Instead, we employ a “user agent redirect script” on your regular website or give your webmaster the code to install for you. This way, your website will determine which “user agent” (just a fancy way of determining which browser is being used to access your website) is being used by the visitor. If it detects that a “mobile browser” is being used, it automatically displays the mobile-friendly version of the website.

This is far better as the visitor will see a pleasing layout right away… one that is optimized for a mobile device and one that can be easily navigated.

Still, we would suggest you provide your visitors a way of seeing your regular website if they really want to. Many “user agent redirect scripts” have a specific function that allows the script to be bypassed. When building your website, we will add a link to view your regular website.

Some marketing ideas include:-

• Sending out an email newsletter that “unveils” your new mobile site
• Alerting your “fans” (via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) about your new mobile site
• Making a blog post about your new mobile website and asking for comments/feedback.
• Including a QR Code on the back of your business card that takes the user straight to your mobile site.

Of course, there are many other ways to market your mobile site, but these ideas will certainly help you jumpstart your marketing efforts.

No, your desktop site remains unchanged. When a visitor arrives at your site while on their mobile device, it automatically and seamlessly delivers them to your mobile friendly version….and they still have the option to return to your full website with just one click!

Websites built for viewing on computer screens don’t present well on mobile phone screens, which are much smaller and slower to load. Mobile sites are specifically designed to be easy to read and navigate through on mobile phones.

Easy! We’ll build a functional, easy-to-read mobile website…and your business will automatically be available to millions of mobile users anywhere, anytime! Simply choose which pricing package suits your business.

No, at Somerset Web Consultancy we keep our prices for this service very competitive….for almost any size business. Some design companies will charge in excess of £1,000 for a mobile web site.

Most webmasters don’t know how to build effective mobile websites. Our proven expertise gives us an edge in creating a simple-to-use and sales-ready mobile site….and we do it quickly!