Welcome back to the Wild West! It wasn’t such a long time ago when the Internet boom started and there was little, if any empirical knowledge on what works and not. Everybody was experimenting, businesses were rising and falling and major companies didn’t exactly know how to really manage the new channel. It was a free for all. Taking this into consideration, the result isn’t so surprising when you look back: many missed the train and some even went bankrupt.
With the rise of the mobile, it isn’t a matter of questioning if you should join the revolution or not, it is a matter of surviving. Many people skipped buying a PC or a laptop, but almost everybody has a phone and relies on it for Internet connection. But how do you connect with those users? Websites created for a desktop usage load bad on a smartphone screen and the navigation is hard. How do you monetize those users? Well, let’s take a look at those questions step by step and see what may the best practices to solve these issues.
Few websites are really optimized for mobile browsing, leaving consumers with a bad overall experience. Many are complaining that the conversion rates for mobile are low, but they aren’t doing anything to improve that. Some even say that there is no need to create a mobile version for the website. But research shows that having an optimized version of the website for mobile can improve the conversion rates and is a must, as more than half of the users don’t return to a website if they had trouble accessing it from the phone.
Mobile users aren’t so hard to convert as many suggest– the key problem lays in the way companies interact with them. Many are sophisticated users and expect a better experience, even better than that they have online. Building a mobile version for your website may seem at first a big headache, considering the variety of screen and devices, but there are some practices that make this task easier.
If you are using WordPress there are some extensions that can make your job a lot easier; if not, use a mobile content management system that can save you a lot of time. The best practice is to use a m.yoursite subdomain. There are now plenty of articles and tutorials on the Internet about setting up your mobile website, so we will concentrate more on the main aspect: content. Keep it nice and simple, clean and minimal. The usual mobile user is searching for information; the visual space is limited so you have to focus on the important things that drive his attention.
Overloaded content may drive away a smartphone user. Responsive web design and staying away from Flash or complicated navigation systems are key factors. Use an easy readable font and a higher line height so the user won’t have trouble reading your content. It is a bit time consuming browsing from a smartphone so be sure to put all the important information at the top of the page and use always relevant titles.
The way people interact with the Internet is always changing so never forget to have an open mind and try to innovate. There is no place for static businesses in this industry and if you don’t act on time, others may take your spot
About The Author
Victor Stinga spent the first part of his career as a semi-professional poker player and dealer whilst studying at University. He was later involved with affiliate marketing and advertising sectors, focusing on new and emerging markets and working on a number of programs. Victor is now working on the affiliate strategy at mFortune. Learn more about mFortune’s affiliate program at mfortune.co.uk/partners.