Web Design > User Experience | User Centered Design | Lead Generation | Mobile Design | Information Architecture | W3C Compliance
Website Design for Mobile
What is Mobile Optimization?
With mobile search overtaking desktop search by the end of 2014, having a website that is optimized for mobile devices like smart phones and tablets is not optional – is critical to your online marketing success.
There are basically three types of mobile optimization
Responsive Design.
(Google favors this). Responsive web design means your website knows what kind of device is viewing it and it configures itself for the device. Users don’t have to pinch-and-squint to see your website’s content on their smart phones because your website is designed to work with the smart phone. (Imagine That’s website is responsive, go ahead; check it out on your smart phone or tablet.)
Dedicated Mobile Sites.
A dedicated mobile site is a website entirely devoted to mobile devices. While this is not a bad solution, with the arrival of responsive design, it’s not the best option. The rule of thumb for mobile optimization is “one website, one URL”.
Dynamic (adaptive) Design.
Dynamic design means your website presents certain pages to mobile devices and certain pages to desktop computers. While this is an “okay” option for mobile optimization, it is not preferred because this means users potentially could see different content across their devices.
Why is Mobile Optimization Important?
At a marketing conference in March 2014, Maile Ohye, senior developer and programs engineer at Google said in 2014 and beyond, mobile optimization is a major consideration for search engines. Everything else being equal, search engines are going to prefer mobile-friendly websites over those that are not.
From a UX perspective, offering your users a mobile optimized site means you care about their experience on your website. From a marketing perspective, here’s why mobile optimization is so important to you:
- A June 2014 report by Neilsen shows that 30% of online consumers are “mobile only” meaning they’re using only smartphones or tablets for their online shopping and surfing activities. Not going mobile means missing 30% of your potential market.
- Nearly 60% of pricing and service lookups start with mobile. Businesses that offer the best online mobile experience win.
- 7% of users will not recommend companies with poor mobile sites.
- Websites that deliver a poor mobile experience can expect to lose rank and position in search engine results pages.
Why Should I Care About Mobile Optimization?
If you care about growing your business, staying current with your customers’ needs, and providing the kind of customer service that keeps customers coming back – you need a marketing strategy that addresses mobile customers. A Televox report shows that 94% of smart phone users look for local information on their phone. Don’t miss this marketing opportunity!
Imagine That is ahead of the mobile revolution. Our sites are responsive by design from the beginning – mobile optimization is where we start; it’s not an add-on. We build your mobile-ready site to adhere to W3C standards as well. Let us show you how mobile optimization can positively impact your bottom line.