As a business owner, you have to be in tune with the latest developments so you can keep up with the world and promote your business on top. The latest development, as you may already be aware of and have experienced yourself, is for sites to offer a mobile version of their websites. With mobile device use on the rise, even at home, it is important to offer people quick and easy access to your information. So when you're looking for a web developer to complete your site, here are a few tips you should keep in mind to discuss.
Provide the same engaging content. You might have heard people talking about having a "stripped down" site. I have even mentioned it in past articles. However, we have to think about the meaning of "stripped down." It does not mean that you should include almost no information except for a few lines and your contact information. People don't just visit mobile sites to find a phone number or an address; many people regularly browse the Internet using their smart phones or tablet computers. Therefore, it is important to develop content that provides all the necessary information. You can provide an abridged version, but do not sacrifice important information or points. Cut out any introductory speech or fluff if you need to; get straight to the point and your users will thank you.
Include interesting visuals. Just like with your desktop version, you need to include pictures, graphs, and anything else you have on your regular site. You can edit the size of the files yourself or you can have your graphic or web designer do it for you. You can use some of the same pictures as your desktop version, just scaled down and saved in a format that optimizes the size for mobile sites to decrease the loading time. Provide bold, attention-grabbing pictures; the small text on mobile screens is sometimes difficult to read, so graphics are more important than ever to draw the eye to the areas you need your users to look at. If you want to create graphics (such as buttons and banners) or include photographs you don't have on your desktop site, be sure that it doesn't add information the desktop site doesn't have; the only difference should be that they are bolder and designed specifically for mobile use.
The design should be similar to the desktop version. Your design is part of your brand, your corporate identity, and you don't want to jump too far from that. Furthermore, users shouldn't be confused or question what site they've visited; it's important to maintain consistency with colors, logos, and styles. With more people using mobile, you also want to give them a good user experience and make the site seem inviting. You don't need to only display a white background, the logo, and contact information anymore. Mobile design has come a long way, giving you more freedom than ever before. There are many beautiful mobile designs out there – you just have to spend some extra time discussing it with your developer.
Mobile design is becoming increasingly important. Many believe mobile Internet will be the next big thing, overtaking desktop usage over the next couple of years. Don't be left behind the times; contact a web development company, such as Codank Web Design, and get started on your mobile site today.
About CODANK Web Design
CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.
For more information, visit us at www.codank.com
Showing posts with label mobile websites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mobile websites. Show all posts
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Why you should create a mobile website
These days, more and more people are accessing the Internet on the go, leading to the rise of mobile Internet. It is predicted that within a few years, the number of people who use their mobile devices to access the Internet will outnumber those who use desktop PCs and laptops. Although there are a few years between now and then, you should still make sure you have a stripped down mobile version of your website ready since there is such a large chunk of mobile users. If that isn't enough to convince you to optimize for mobile use, here are a few more reasons why.
Non-mobile layouts look cramped. There is nothing worse than trying to use a site on your mobile device where the layout is crammed together and items are overlapping. The small screen size forces elements on top of each other, making it difficult to use. Websites that rely on images or tables are especially bad; elements can mysteriously disappear or render in strange ways.
The navigation doesn't always work. There have been instances where I've tried to use my phone to access a website, but have been unable to because of faulty navigation. Using the arrow keys doesn't always get me where I want to go, and sometimes links are inaccessible due to the way the site is coded and laid out. There are also problems if the navigation uses dropdowns (which don't work in all mobile devices) or if your device uses a touch screen and you're unable to click on the correct link. If users can't navigate a site, they'll go somewhere else for their information.
Mobile Internet is often slow. There are some users who already have 4G and don't have as much of a problem, but there are still users who have 3G network speed and below. My phone doesn't even get 3G speeds, so it can take a good while for non-optimized pages to load. This is especially true if you have a lot of media, JavaScript, or images on your pages. People tend to be impatient when they're on a mobile device - more so than when they're browsing the Internet on a desktop computer. So if you want to keep your mobile visitors, make sure you have a mobile version of the site and test it to make sure it loads within a couple of seconds.
Creating a mobile version of your site is not hard to do - and you don't have to do it alone. You can contact a design company, such as Codank Web Design, to help you create an optimized mobile version of your website so you won't fall behind the times.
About CODANK Web Design
CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.
For more information, visit us at www.codank.com
Non-mobile layouts look cramped. There is nothing worse than trying to use a site on your mobile device where the layout is crammed together and items are overlapping. The small screen size forces elements on top of each other, making it difficult to use. Websites that rely on images or tables are especially bad; elements can mysteriously disappear or render in strange ways.
The navigation doesn't always work. There have been instances where I've tried to use my phone to access a website, but have been unable to because of faulty navigation. Using the arrow keys doesn't always get me where I want to go, and sometimes links are inaccessible due to the way the site is coded and laid out. There are also problems if the navigation uses dropdowns (which don't work in all mobile devices) or if your device uses a touch screen and you're unable to click on the correct link. If users can't navigate a site, they'll go somewhere else for their information.
Mobile Internet is often slow. There are some users who already have 4G and don't have as much of a problem, but there are still users who have 3G network speed and below. My phone doesn't even get 3G speeds, so it can take a good while for non-optimized pages to load. This is especially true if you have a lot of media, JavaScript, or images on your pages. People tend to be impatient when they're on a mobile device - more so than when they're browsing the Internet on a desktop computer. So if you want to keep your mobile visitors, make sure you have a mobile version of the site and test it to make sure it loads within a couple of seconds.
Creating a mobile version of your site is not hard to do - and you don't have to do it alone. You can contact a design company, such as Codank Web Design, to help you create an optimized mobile version of your website so you won't fall behind the times.
About CODANK Web Design
CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.
For more information, visit us at www.codank.com
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