95% of users search for local information with 9 out of 10 taking action.
Our phones are always on, always with us and always connected.

For instance, if your primary aim is public communications or marketing, the clear winner is bound to be a mobile site, at least as the first step of your mobile marketing campaign. This is because a mini-version of your website scores over native apps in more ways than one. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages associated with a phone site.

Site for Mobile Phones are Instantly Available

Unlike apps that need to be downloaded and installed first before they can be used or viewed, a mobile version of your website can be instantly accessed by your audience with the help of a browser. Since initial engagement with the website translates almost immediately into action, phone sites offer a far more satisfying experience for most consumers.

A Mobile Website is Compatible across Mobile Devices

Whether you have a Blackberry, an iPhone, or a Samsung Touchphone, a mobile site can very easily be viewed on all handheld devices. A mobile web application, on the other hand, has to be customized to be compatible with the operating system of specific devices.

Mobile Phone Site can be Upgraded Easily

When a native application is updated, users have to download the latest version on their device for it to take effect. In a mini-site, however, you have a lot of flexibility when it comes to changing/updating the design or content. Once you are done, the changes are visible to users almost immediately.

Mobile Websites are Easier to Find

Where one has to visit a specific app store to look for an application, mobile sites can be found easily on search engines or industry-specific directories. Better still, device detection software makes it easy to direct your users to the mini-site when they visit the regular website. This gives the site a broader reach which is not enjoyed by applications.

A Site for Mobile Phones is Easier on your Pocket

Developing a mobile website requires less investment in terms of cost as well as time as compared to a mobile app. At the same time, it gives you presence on a wide variety of platforms which may not be possible with a mobile web application.

With this you mustn’t conclude that mobile apps aren’t popular. They are, especially when you consider some specific use scenarios. For instance, when it comes to interactive gaming, apps are undoubtedly the first choice. Also, some apps (like EverNote) allow users to customize them to their specific requirements, facilitating a far more personalized experience, which may not be possible with a website. Whenever you have a situation where you’d like to give your target audience functionality without dependence on an Internet connection, native application would be a far better choice.

Here are some important factors you must take into account when designing a mobile website. They are, in fact, integral to the success of your mini site. For this reason these practices must hold a place of importance in web design for mobile phones.

Ask yourself – “Why Do I Need a Mobile Website”?

There are three reasons why businesses transition to a mini version of their traditional website.

1. They’re launching a brand new site and incorporating both a desktop as well as mobile version of it.
2. They’re redesigning their existing website and looking to make its mobile version as well.
3. They want to add a mobile version to their existing website without changing the latter in anyway.

Understanding the reason driving the change will help you identify the unique requirements of each circumstance. This, in turn, is informative in that you can determine what the best way forward is.

Examine Past Data before you Move Ahead

Most mobile web design projects stem from the need to redesign an existing website or to add a mobile site in addition to an existing one. If a business has been using Google Analytics or any other metric tracking software to understand the activity on their website, the data should be studied before another design project is commissioned. This information is valuable and contributes towards your understanding of how visitors are accessing your website (the device/browser they are using) and their behavior once they are on it. It also comes in handy during the development, testing, and launch phase of the mini website.

Consider Responsive Web Design for Mobile Phones

Every year new mobile devices are being released into the market. Instead of simply checking your mobile site in just a few chosen web browsers, optimizing it so it’s compatible with a wide variety of mobile as well as desk top browsers makes for a better business decision. Each mobile device has its own supported technology, screen resolution, and user-base. By using forward thinking technology like CSS3, HTML5, and web fonts, it’s possible to simultaneously design a desktop and mobile web site experience for users; a site that adapts to any device they may use to view it.

Have a Single Column Layout

In mobile web design, a single column structure is a preferred layout for two reasons. First, it makes the best possible use of limited space on small screens. Secondly, it allows you to flip between landscape and portrait mode and scale between different resolutions of a handheld device.

Taking things a step further, organize the website in a simple manner and consider having a collapsible navigation. This allows you to present a lot of information without hogging excessive space and optimizes user experience.

The end result of these practices is to ensure that when your audience visits the mobile site, it has a faultless interaction with it. That alone will persuade them to come back to it again and again and not forget about your website in the blink of an eye.

Today more people surf the Internet on their handheld devices than desktops and once again, anything that you could do on your computer can be accomplished on your mobile phones or tablet PCs. So much so that it is carving an integral place for itself in the realms of education especially for adult learners. In fact, several online universities and colleges are encouraging the use of mobile devices. Its flexibility and portability, not to mention the ability to access high speed Internet on the go, makes it a valuable education tool.

Let’s look at some of the more prominent ways in which Internet for mobile phones is impacting the field of adult education and learning.

Allows you to Study at your Own Pace

Gone are the days when you would have to attend classes at inconvenient timings, juggling your entire day’s/week’s schedule to accommodate classes. Today, professors and instructors are amenable to the idea of recording class lectures and posting them onto the college website from where it can be downloaded anytime. You can carry these audio/video podcasts and ‘attend’ them at a time most convenient to you. Those who have a full time job are thankful for this flexibility and usually listen to lectures in the evenings or on weekends.

Wireless Mobile Internet Makes Education More Affordable

There are several ways in which web for mobile devices cuts down on the cost of education. To begin with, it saves you the trouble of having to travel to and fro to attend lectures thereby saving not just the money you’d spend on travelling but also time. In addition, you have access to a wide variety of free online resources, textbooks, and learning material. No matter what subject you are specializing in – law, nursing, business, marketing, humanities, art, or political science – there is plenty of free or reasonably priced content and audio books which can be downloaded onto your mobile device.

Improves Communication between Student & Teacher

In a classroom of 30 students, it’s difficult for a teacher to give the much needed individualized attention to every learner. With a mobile device however, students can interact with their instructors on a one-to-one basis via instant messaging. This is especially helpful when seeking clarification on a difficult point or reviewing an assignment or test paper.

Earlier, earning a degree for adult learners meant dealing with variables like location of college, availability of courses, timings of the lectures, finances, etc. Today, however, it has become easier for working mothers or full time job holders to go back to college without it having to interfere in their job or family care responsibilities.

Mobile web application

Mobile web design is no child’s play. To achieve success, there are certain key principles you cannot afford to ignore.

The most important ones are discussed in this article.

1. Make it Fast

Undoubtedly, this has to be the most important feature of a site for mobile handsets. The average mobile user surfs the Internet on the go. Slow, cumbersome applications will not go down very well with your users. You can be sure they will get frustrated and move on to a faster web application – probably that of your competitor’s. If you don’t like this idea, design the app to be fast, super fast.

2. Make it Discoverable

Do you know how many apps are released every day? Hundreds, if not thousands. Your mobile web application is like the proverbial needle in the ever-growing haystack. To ensure your consumers are able to discover it easily, you must optimize it so that search engines are able to index it easily. In addition, social media platforms should also be able to find it. Start-up organizations strapped for cash should consider viral marketing. It can be an effective, not to mention powerful tool, when done rightly.

3. Give it a Voice

Instead of trying to ape a zillion other mobile apps out there, give yours a personality of its own. Contrary to what you may think, consumers like apps that stand out from the crowd. So don’t shirk away from giving it an original feel.

4. Keep it Minimal

Simple is really beautiful and very effective too. A clean design, clutter-free layout, and minimalism really appeals to people. There are too many people out there ruining their prospects by complicating their apps and going overboard with fancy design elements. That’s a recipe for disaster that you’d want to steer clear of.

5. Allow Customization

A great mobile app is one that facilitates customization by users, allowing them to modify it in ways that would enhance their own experience. Very simply, when people have control over their apps, it makes them feel like they’ve contributed towards its usefulness. However, you should know how much control should be given to a user. Too much could be just as bad as too little.

6. Make it Engaging

The best site for mobile phones is one that grabs the attention of the end user and keeps it engaged for good. There are several ways of doing that, the simplest being the introduction of fun elements to keep the user coming back for more.

750 million people and constantly growing) use their handset to access the Internet. If nothing else, these figures alone indicate what a huge phenomenon mobile web browsing is on its way to becoming. It won’t be very long before mobile sites and applications become as integral to our lifestyle as the Internet.

Building a mobile web application for your business is a decision you can’t postpone for too long. At the same time, creating an app is no different from launching a product and must be supported by solid business principles. Before you do anything else, ask yourself the following three questions:

• Who is your audience?

• Do they Have Use for It?

• Will they pay money to use it?

The answers to these are essential to create a web application for mobile phones your audience will come to value. Ignore these basic principles and your effort could very well end up in the Dead Pool.

Who is your Target Audience?

Before you start pumping your resources into mobile web development, you must identify and understand the pulse of your audience. Who are they? Tech-savvy youngsters? Stay-at-home moms? Local business owners? A guy who thinks the Internet is some sort of a fancy gadget used for fishing? Young girls in the 18-25 age group? You have to study their profile and user patterns and understand their needs. Lack of this information could cause you to work under false assumptions which might cause you to develop an app that will fail to click with them.

Do They Have a Use for you Idea?

Having a great idea in itself doesn’t guarantee success; have a great idea that has a market does. At the end of the day, functionality rules. You might think helping stay-at-home dads organize their weekly shopping list is a great idea. Maybe it is. But the point is do they really need it? Are they even going to use this mobile web application?

This can only be determined with the help of market research. Bounce the idea off some people close to you and observe their reactions – positive, negative, or neutral. Do a search online using terms or keywords related to your idea and observe the activity in the web world. Establish communication with your potential customers – either face to face or on Internet forums and – and try to understand what they really want. This sort of research is important to assure yourself that the money you are investing into mobile web development won’t flow down the drain eventually.

Will they Pay Money to Use It

So…you’ve identified the audience and managed to zero in on what they really want. Good for you! The next thing you have to look into is whether their need is strong enough for them to pay for your web application for mobile phones. This isn’t a real concern when you are targeting business owners. They just might be able to fork over $49 per month to use the app. But how about teenagers or young adults? Do you see them spending money to buy it? If not, you’d better think in terms of an advertising monetization model to recover the money you’ve spent on the project.

And yet, the average website designer will tell you that the world of mobile web development is ruled by dos and don’ts in all shapes and sizes. It is a place where official as well as unofficial rules run amok, clouding sensibilities and curbing creativity. While some of these outdated ‘guidelines’ are based on misrepresentation of facts, to say the least, many are just wrong!

It’s about time some of the more popular myths shackling your creative expressions were laid to rest, don’t you think. The sooner, the better…

Mobile Users Have No Time

When creating web design for mobile, the general idea seems to be that the audience surfing these sites has the attention span of not more than 3-4 seconds. If they like what they see, they stay; if not, they will be off like lightning to something else that will catch their fancy. Since mobile users are in a perpetual state of hurry and are distracted to the hilt, all relevant information should be accommodated into the section above the fold.

However, mobile web design gurus have discovered that this isn’t really true. While mobile websites are generally associated with on the go user experience, mobile users are actually quite relaxed when surfing the net on their cell phones. They could be lounging comfortably on the sofa at home or stuck in a 3 hour layover. The point is, contrary to the popular notion, users aren’t in a rush – a fact one should keep in mind when creating a web design for mobile.

Plenty of Graphics Translates into Enhanced User Experience

When one hears this (somewhat ludicrous) belief, it’s not unnatural for them to think of mobile users like they were 3-year old kids pouring over spectacularly colored books that had more illustrations than text in them. Needless to say, this notion is severely flawed. While there is no denying that graphics have a role to play in making a website interesting, it can never compensate for quality content. Besides, too many graphics simply means higher loading time for the website, which, we know all too well, is never appreciated by the user.

Complex Sites Will Never be Successful

It is believed that design for mobile web should never be complex. Although slightly debatable, most experts believe it’s important for a designer to remember the difference between ‘complex’ and ‘complicated’ because, although used interchangeably, they do not mean the same. The former adds a little bit of welcome texture into our lives, while the latter can potentially tie it up into knots. So, by all means, design complex apps. As long as they are done well (like the recently launched Facebook iOS app) the user is bound to appreciate it.

If you have any qusstions about mobile web design just drop us a line, we’re here to help!

References:

TechRadar

This perceptible shift from desktops to hand held devices has shown a steady increase since 2007, when leading mobile brands started manufacturing larger and more advanced multi-touch smartphones. In fact, by 2010, the smartphone was able to provide a far superior browsing experience than previous generation mobile devices or even personal computers.

It is estimated that the distinction between native applications and mobile web applications will become blurred soon enough. While on the one hand browsers on present day smartphones are accessing its hardware – the GPS chips and accelerometers – directly, on the other hand browser based applications are become faster and faster. A research conducted in June 2011 concluded that Mobile Web was one of the three most widely used platforms, along with iOS and Android.

Needless to say, mobile web is one of the hottest fads in the field of mobile technology. Even the most basic handset available today provides access to the Internet, allowing consumers to use it for rudimentary purposes like accessing the email and surfing the Internet. In the more advanced handsets, however, people can do a lot more than this, the most popular function being using mobile specific applications.

Mobile apps have become so integral to the lives of users they cannot imagine getting by without them. Today, there are tens of thousands of applications covering almost every conceivable function you can think of doing on a handheld device. From looking up the meaning of words to checking on the latest price of stocks to getting directions to the new restaurant in town to providing regular updates on weather, everything is possible with mobile apps. All you have to do is choose your favorite application and download it into the device. Once it is installed, the user simply has to select the app to launch the program.

Wireless web has also put Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) within the reach of mobile users. Instead of using their cell phone network, VOIP gives people the ability to speak with other people over the Internet. The most popular example of VOIP services is Skype. For most part this function has largely been restricted to personal computers. Today, however, cell phones equipped with Wi-Fi are able to easily configure VOIP services, either free of cost or at nominal rates. VOIP has turned out to be a great money saving option whereby mobile users are able to stay in touch with loved ones, especially those that are overseas, without having to spend any more on their monthly bills than they have to.

In the end, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the mobile web has opened up a whole new world to its users.

There are few things you can’t do on your mobile phone these days. Shopping, transferring money, sending virtual gifts, downloading videos, chatting with friends, and checking emails have all become possible thanks to the technological strides made in the field of mobile Internet.

1. The Market is Expanding Rapidly

America tops the charts when it comes to cell phone users. It is estimated that one out of every five Americans uses his handset to surf the Internet. This figure only promises to go up… phenomenally at that! Imagine tapping into this ever-widening market with the help of a mobile site!

2. Increased Visibility for your Brand

Gone are the days when people used to sit at their desktop PC to look up information. While sitting in buses or trains, travelling by domestic flights, or waiting for colleagues in a meeting, they are turning to their cell phones to surf the Internet. Traditional websites are designed to be enjoyed on a bigger screen so surfing them on cell phones can be quite tedious.

On the other, if you took the trouble to specifically design a site for mobile phones, you’ll be able to buy yourself visibility in the mobile web world. Now, your customers will be able to find you, irrespective of the device they may be using.

3. Score over your Competition

In the year 2009-2010, a little more than $1.6 billion worth of commercial transactions was credited to mobile devices. And yet, only a meager 5% of the top 500 online companies have a dedicated mobile website.  The possibilities for your business are huge. Can you really afford to look the other way while your competition hops on to the bandwagon?

4. Get Cookie Points from Google

The goal of any website is to have high rankings on leading search engines like Google. For reasons as yet unclear, Google chooses to index content for mobile websites separately. Given that mobile web space isn’t crowded…yet, you may want to speed up the process of designing a site or web application for mobile phones for your business. You certainly wouldn’t object to the extra attention Google will shower on you.

In the end, there is every indication that mobile Internet is all set to overtake conventional Internet in as less as two to three years from now. Already, mobile users are spending well over 12-13 hours online per week and desktop PCs are fast losing their usefulness as a means to surf the Internet. When you add to that the fact that most users, owing to paucity of time, cannot wait until they get home to access information online and prefer to turn to their handsets instead, you have all the more reason to consider having a mobile website for your business.