Website owners, get with the mobile trends!

[Chez2]

I think everyone knows that having a mobile site is important, the difficulty is finding someone who will make a mobile version of your site without charging you a fortune and actually knows what they're doing.

 

Its not expensive, have a look at ours on a mobile and see what you think. You can get to our website by clicking on my signature. People aren't very likley to search on a mobile in my sector as we are business to business so its likley to be an Environmental manager or purchasing manager sat at their desk whois doing the search. It wasn't expensive so we thought we would do it. I can put you in touch with the person if you want to. He worked as an employee in the industry for many years but set up his own business quite some time ago.

 

We have just started another business that is more likley to be dealing with individuals rather than businesses so we will have a mobile website done at the same time as our main website.

[AdamDowning]

 

Here is a nice video to watch in demonstration.

[tinfoilhat]

I always switch to the full site, I hate mobile sites.

They were good in the old days of wap, but today no thank you.

 

Totally agree. There's never enough info on them either. Is it really to hard for people to manage a full site ???

 

I notice this site hasn't got one and won't as far as I know work on any iPhone apps and it's still doing alright.

[AdamDowning]

Nobody is really looking to buy a product or service from a business on Sheffield Forums through their mobile. We're talking keywords such as "Painters in Sheffield" for example. The consumer is looking for the information as quickly as possible, therefore only need the basics which are generally

 

- Basic info about the company

- Contact information

- Prices

- Location

- Opening hours

 

They don't want to look at your portfolio, nor do they want half of the information on your full website. They are out and about and want to find the business quickly and possibly navigate to it.

[Love2print]

So how do you define what sort of business does need a mobile site and those that don't? What is the criteria?

 

And what if it is a half and half situation? For example my sister and mother-in-law run a shop selling baby items (prams, clothes, cots, etc.) but they are also thinking about selling prams online (just prams nothing else for UK wide delivery). So some customers might be looking for where their shop is and some would be looking at their site to buy a pram.

[AdamDowning]

Each business would clearly need an analysis before the investment. The main businesses would consist of those who sell a product/service locally. Takeaways is a prime example.

[Love2print]

OK. So it wouldn't be straight forward in all situations like my with my in laws shop. Got me thinking anyway.

[vaughanb]

I look after the website for the company I work for and I've noticed quite a shift in the last 6 months. We've gone from about 10% of the traffic been on mobile devices to approx 25%, this is according to Google Analytics monitoring our site. We're B2B which is perhaps why the percentages are a bit lower than the original post.

 

It's something we'll be doing very soon but it's a little easier for us as I do the design, seo and general upkeep. Our main site has quite a bit of flash which is a bit of a problem at the moment, mainly for Apple devices.

[WFO Print]

I think some people have offered some good points. For a local business I can see the point that people are in the area and want to find something local quickly - a spur of the moment thing. Having a mobile site could certainly be an advantage if you're a business that is likely to be viewed this way.

 

However, first impressions are a big thing and mobile sites often don't have the capacity to deliver that impression that is going to win a customer in the first few seconds of the customer thinking - is this worth waiting for my 3G to load and a good use of my data (not everyone is on unlimited data and you'd be silly to think so!). My view is that if you've got a great looking, clear home page that's easy to get location and contact details for (opening times are often important too) then you'll win the customer right there and then. Make your content worth looking at is the best way IMHO.

[AdamDowning]

I look after the website for the company I work for and I've noticed quite a shift in the last 6 months. We've gone from about 10% of the traffic been on mobile devices to approx 25%, this is according to Google Analytics monitoring our site. We're B2B which is perhaps why the percentages are a bit lower than the original post.

 

It's something we'll be doing very soon but it's a little easier for us as I do the design, seo and general upkeep. Our main site has quite a bit of flash which is a bit of a problem at the moment, mainly for Apple devices.

 

Possibly look at an AJAX slider? Less size, decrease your page weight, and loads quicker!