With more than 100 million smart phones and web-ready mobile devices expected to go online in 2012 – in addition to the hundreds of millions already in customers’ hands – it’s clear that most businesses can’t afford to go without a mobile business website. What’s less clear, however, is exactly what should go on it.
Should your mobile business website be a smaller copy of your existing site, or something altogether different? The answer, in most cases, lies somewhere in between. Although your mobile business website should look a lot like your existing site, for purposes of branding and continuity, there are a couple of things you’ll want to be sure you don’t miss out on.
To help you get a sense of what they are, here are five things that definitely shouldn’t be missing from your mobile business website:
1. Social media links. Granted, you should have links to your social profiles on any website related to your company, but it’s especially important for mobile computing. Why? Because it only takes a quick tap of the screen to “like” your business and share it with other contacts, and mobile web users use social media more than anyone else.
2. Online videos. Not only are bandwidth rates decreasing to the point where online videos are economical on mobile business websites, but it also eliminates another problem in mobile design: the need to avoid large blocks of text. To make pages look simpler, more interactive, and more compelling, try replacing some sections of writing with online videos.
3. Simple navigation. Like social media links, a clear, easy-to-use navigation structure is important for any business website. It takes on even more weight with social media, however, since few visitors want to click through page after page from their smart phone or tablet.
4. Mobile-specific calls to action. The most obvious of these would be the “click to call” buttons that you see on so many mobile business websites. They work well because they are fast and easy – just as mobile web customers don’t want to read large blocks of text, they especially don’t want to type them. With that in mind, make it easy for them to do what you’re hoping they will.
5. E-commerce features. If your company already generates money from its existing website, then why not add e-commerce functionality to your mobile site, too? The early evidence suggests that mobile e-commerce could be the next big trend, so there’s no reason to miss out on a stream of new profits.
Need help putting together your mobile web strategy? Contact us today and schedule a free appointment with a member of our team.