At the Brighton Digital Marketing Festival this month there was a strong theme running through the speaker sessions – make sure you’re mobile ready.
We’ve heard it’s the year of mobile for a few years now but the evidence is there that it really is time to get with the handset. If you’re not with it by the end of this year, your competitors will start winning your customers.
Let me give you some stats:
- Mobile search was up 212% YoY Q2 2011 (wmps.com)
- 91% of UK customers have used their mobile for shopping (Digby.com)
- More than 40% of UK merchants expect to have a transactional mobile site or app within the next year (IAB)
So mobile is important – how do you make sure your website is ready for it?
- Remember that your content will be read on the move so don’t give war and peace when 500 words will do
- Think big – as in big links and big buttons, people using touchscreens don’t have 5yr old fingers!
- Think small – you don’t want your page overrun with large images that on a mobile screen take up 3 scrolls
- Slimline your design – think of the shape of a mobile, totally different to a widescreen desktop, you want long and slim
- Remove side navigation – there’s no room for side nav with a mobile, use a simple nav at the top and make it easy to get back up there when you’ve scrolled to the bottom of your content
- Make sure you have a test on your mobile – someone you know has an iPhone so get on testing on there
These are just a few of the things that can be done to get your website more mobile friendly which are quick and easy. Ideally you want to have a mobile version of your site as a longer term goal but in the meantime make sure that your user experience is a handset friendly one.
