Your Site on a Smartphone

Online Marketing

Nearly 40% of time spent on the internet is on mobile devices. The age of desktop or laptop web surfing has come and gone. Clearly a site that looks good when viewed from a traditional computer is important, it still accounts for the other 60% after all, mobile web design cannot be ignored. In fact, there’s an entire segment of the population, users under the age of 25, who are actually quite likely to never access your site through a traditional internet connected device. There are a lot of resources that can teach you how to code a website for mobile use, and there are companies you can hire that will do it for you. There are even sites layouts that will optimize for mobile as you go. So instead of providing you with more of the same resources, we will spend our time convincing you that you need to use them and that online marketing for mobile devices is essential.

Advantages to Mobile Sites

Having a mobile site designed for use on smartphones can actually have some advantages of traditional designs. Using location-aware code can let you determine the user’s location and offer them specific information based on that. You can help them find the nearest location for your business or you can market specific products to them based on where they live.
In addition, you can make your contact information easily accessible so that by just touching the screen, they can place a call directly to your business.

Mobile Optimization

Now that we’ve established why mobile optimization is important for your business and your website, we need to talk about what it actually is and how to do it.
First, while large images and embedded videos work great on standard devices, they may not always be the right option for mobile. Screen space is extremely limited, so using it wisely is the key. If an image or video is the most important thing you could possibly communicate about your brand, then including on a mobile optimized page might make sense, but if it isn’t, then stick to text and logos instead.
A mobile optimized site will take advantage of vertical scrolling and leave very little, if any, information off to either side. If something is kept too far off to the side, it may never be seen at all by a mobile user.
Drop-down menus are also key on mobile sites. Having too many menus, tabs or options cluttering the home screen can be a distraction and take up valuable space that could be better used elsewhere. Mobile users have gotten pretty good at navigating and should be able to spot a drop-down menu and navigate to other areas of your site.

You can include a simple line of code that will instruct the server which version of your website to present based on the ID of the device that is trying to connect. This will happen automatically every time and won’t require any additional thought or effort.
It might be a good idea to develop a mobile app. Then users can access it directly from their home screen and bypass the browser altogether. This approach will further optimize the experience for mobile users. Your best bet is to make this a free download, as consumers won’t want to pay extra for something they could do on your website for free. While developing an app costs money, the investment will almost certainly pay off down the road.
If you need printing services in Ft. Lauderdale or your site needs a makeover, contact Alphagraphics today.