Mobile Web
With the advent of affordable smart phones and wifi (or even 3G/4G) enabled handheld devices, the ability for the average American consumer to access the mobile web has grown immensely over the last two years.
As of mid-2010, nearly 89 million people, that’s 30% of cell phone users, access the mobile web and at least 50% of these do it at least once a day. That’s not including tablet devices or other handheld units that are mobile web ready. Also, due to the ease of mobile access, the population of individuals who use a mobile device as their only connection to the internet is growing. Recent statistics suggest that mobile browsers will outnumber desktop browsers by 2012.
It’s not enough to simply have a website that can be viewed via the mobile web. Users are typically in a rush for information and may not have the patience (or network speed) to wait for a standard website to load.
There are multiple options in optimizing a site for the mobile web. The first is to simplify the content of an already existing website, giving it a quick load time. Though, consider that most mobile browsers simply offer a smaller version of the website and it may be difficult to read on a three or four inch screen. Current websites may be modified to react differently to a variety of browsers, thus giving the user a specialized and simplified version of the site.
Possibly the most effective tactic, however, is to build a mobile web specific site with its own mobile url (m.yoursite.com, mobile.yoursite.com or yoursite.com/mobile). This address can be published on the main site, alerting desktop visitors that you offer a mobile option. Also, your current website may be modified to redirect to the mobile address when accessed by a mobile web browser. The mobile site itself may only feature basic relevant content for the mobile user versus the entire body of information found on the standard website.
Let us work with you to gain access the rapidly expanding mobile consumer base!