Needless to say, mobile search and data usage is skyrocketing: Comscore reports that in 2008, 20.8 million US subscribers used a search feature from their mobile device. “But wait,” you might say. “That’s just 9.2% of total US cell service subscribers!” That’s true (and weirdly accurate!), but that’s 68% more than in 2007! Revenue and ad spend are also increasing dramatically, and as more and more mobile devices ship with full HTML-compatible web browsers included, you can expect the line between traditional web search and mobile usage to blur and overlap. .
Clearly, this is a place any forward-thinking company needs to show up. But instead of simply including their current website content in a mobile-friendly format, how can businesses strategically leverage this new medium? Hmm, the wind is perfect for a checklist!
- The biggest mistake. DO NOT just throw your entire website to mobile users. If you own a car dealership, there’s no reason to slow down a visitor’s site experience by directing them to a testimonial page. That’s great for your traditional website, where visitors will spend more time browsing, but for mobile pages, you want to keep the focus on fast, easy-to-process content. Ask yourself: why would people need to access your site from a mobile phone? Think about time-sensitive issues: In the car dealership example above, why not offer a form to schedule maintenance? How about an option to sign up for an SMS (text) campaign to remind customers of oil changes and tire rotations? Remember…
- Your site is not a billboard.This is also very important for traditional websites, but essential for mobile sites. Your site has to actually offer something of perceived value, otherwise…no traffic! No one would voluntarily sign up for longer commercial breaks on television. Why would they go to your site unless you provide them with something they need? Lower the sales pitch and focus on offering users something that benefits them more immediately.
- Functional problems: not everyone has an iPhone! Over time, mobile web browsers will be powerful enough to navigate all websites the same way your PC browser does, but it’s not there yet. While it’s true that most smartphone users (iPhone, Blackberry, etc.) spend a great deal of time browsing on their device, just designing your site for them is ignoring a large portion of potential visitors. Some basic functional guidelines: -No Javascript, like in the navigation menus; some phones do not represent this correctly. -No Flash elements, pop-up windows or other graphically intense objects; remember, you want your site to be FAST. -Include numbers for each navigation option for users who navigate through their phone keypad. It is much easier to press “7” instead of the “down” arrow 6 times. -Make sure the text is large enough to read on smaller screens. Keep scrolling (horizontal and vertical) to a minimum.
- Who are you addressing? Google likes to divide mobile device users into 3 different categories, based on usage patterns. What can you offer these groups? Note that there is a bit of overlap here, and as always with mobile, your focus should be on easily accessible and relevant content.
- repetitive now – these people are constantly checking the same places for the latest information. These are things like stocks, sports scores, breaking news, etc.
- bored now – users who browse simply because there is nothing else to do. They’re on the subway, the bus, the plane, that 3-hour accounting meeting. Games, trivia, and other easy-to-digest content really appeal to this group.
- urgent now – the focus for these users is on functionality and efficiency; they need information NOW, no frills, no roadblocks. This can include things like the weather, directions, and most local searches.
As always, the focus here is on strategic implementation: without an overall plan of what you want to offer and who you want to target, your mobile initiative could be stalled from the start.
