The Mobile Web & Your Business

Until recently, making your website available to your customers on their mobile phone was limited to low res, 'chunky', diluted functionality versions of your website. The un deniable success of the 'Smartphone' (the Apple iPhone and the Blackberry for example) has seen the Mobile Web flourish in recent months and has become a serious consideration for any business. The following article details the key points in developing a mobile version of your website;

1. Keeping the information and functionality strictly limited to a need-to-know basis.
It is important to remember that most people accessing your website on their Smartphones will not be first time-users of your site. It is likely they are already customers/members. Pick out your key services and features of your main site - and focus on these. While the Mobile Web is advancing at a rapid rate, there are still aspects of web functionality it simply cannot cope with yet.

If you have an e-commerce site for example - strip down the features and number of categories - the three-click-rule still applies to Mobile Versions- however you need to take into account that loading times on a Smartphone can be significantly slower than conventional broadband - and mobile user's simply run out of patience.

Avoid long-winded pages just containing text - for example, does your Mobile Version need a fully-fledged 'About Us' section? Probably not; mobile users will not scroll through reams of text, and as previously mentioned - it is more than likely they are existing customers/users.

2. Make your users aware of your Mobile Version
Make sure your customers know about the Mobile Version of your site... Existing users will see it as another, more convenient reason to keep using your services. It is recommended that you install scripts which detect whether or not a user is using a mobile device and automatically redirect them to the Mobile Version. Always remember to include a link back to the 'main' site on your Mobile Version - some Smartphones (e.g. Apple iPhone) can also browse the 'real' web (with limitations).

3. Limit your use of scripts
While the technology is advancing all the time - many Smartphones still struggle with complex scripts. This approach will mean 'stripping down' the bells-and-whistles from your main site and offering a mobile-friendly alternative. For more advice on scripting, please contact me.

4. Pick a Mobile friendly domain name
The official domain for the mobile web is .mobi but there are strict criteria for hosting a .mobi domain name (which can be found at mtld.mobi).

In recent months following the surge in popularity of the iPhone, there has been a trend for using a sub-domain (of an existing domain) to host the mobile version of your site e.g. http://m.yourdomain.com. This is a more effective way of hosting your site - you don't need to buy a new domain, there are no strict domain rules and it is becoming quickly recognised by the end-user that the 'm' represents a mobile version.

5. Considerations
You need to plan your site effectively - you need to consider the following:

Smartphones have limited support of JavaScript
Flash is not yet available on most Smartphones
The majority of animation effects (e.g. link hovers) will not work
Some video formats are supported
The maximum width for your content is significantly less than your conventional site (e.g. the iPhone is 320px wide)
Banner advertisements
You can only use web-safe fonts e.g. Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Sans-serif, Times New Roman etc.
Limit the number of images - these will hog precious bandwidth and increase loading times
Your navigation and buttons need to be tailored for handheld devices - e.g. on the iPhone buttons need to be big enough for a user's finger tip.
Page length- users will not scroll through long pages
Load time - the Mobile web can be subject to poor connections. The quicker the better! To quickly improve loading time - cut down on images and scripts and make sure your server can cope with the bandwidth
Done properly - a Mobile Version of your website will offer your existing customers/user an effective and convenient way of accessing (and using!) your services on the move - and ultimately lead to more sales. Major companies and organisations with Smartphone versions of their sites include Amazon, Digg, eBay and The BBC.

For more information about developing for the Mobile Web, please contact Richard.

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The Mobile Web & Your Business