subject: Templates Are An Easy Way Of Creating A Mobile Website [print this page] Browsing websites on a mobile or cell phone is increasing in popularity. As of February 2012, mobiles accounted for 9% of all online browsing, compared to 0.7% in 2010.
In fact, one in four people access the net on their mobile every day, but interestingly, only half of the world's top 500 sites are optimised for mobiles.
So, mobile browsing is a rapidly growing market, making it more important than ever for businesses to design a website specifically for smartphones, iPads etc.
There are several ways to create a mobile website, but using a template is ideal if you don't have the time or expertise to design from scratch, or the money to hire a professional. Here are three ways a template can help you:
Changing screen sizes
When it comes to designing a mobile website, you need to be aware that there are many smartphones and tablets in existence and they all have different screen sizes. At one end of the scale, there is a BlackBerry with a screen size of 160x160, while at the other end there's a 2048x1536 iPad.
These two devices (and all the others in between) offer variations not only in screen size, but in screen ratio too. You'll want to ensure that your content fits perfectly on every one of them. So, how do you do it?
A website designed from scratch that is compatible with all of these screen sizes is possible, but it requires complex coding and technical know-how. A template, however, does the hard work for you with the relevant code set in place.
A popular trait of mobile browsing is the ability to switch between landscape and portrait viewing and a template will also deal with this.
Optimising layout
Without a website optimised for mobile devices, the only site visitors can view on their smartphones, iPads, iPhones etc. is your regular website.
The problem here is that a lot of your content will be hidden because the site won't scale to the device's smaller dimensions. And there's little point in striving for quality content and a great design if this can't be appreciated by your visitors.
This is where a mobile website template can help, making your content visible in a professional and easy-to-digest manner. Plus, the template simplifies the process with a stylish layout into which you can quickly and easily drop your content.
Another advantage is that, because the overall feel of the site remains quite minimalist (in order to fit on smaller screens), your pages won't take an age to load. And that's something your visitors will really appreciate.
Customising the design
The perception might be that a template is a low-cost option that restricts the uniqueness of your mobile website. However, most templates are fully customisable and, with the technical side of things taken care of, they enable you to spend time tailoring a site to your exact needs.
Perhaps you want a completely authentic look or, more likely, an aesthetic link between your mobile and regular sites that will maintain brand consistency.
Using a template means you can do either and get your site up and running in no time, giving you the ability to customise layout, colour scheme and navigation.
You might not possess coding or designing skills, but that shouldn't prevent you from reaping the rewards of mobile browsing.
There are, of course, advantages to other methods of designing a mobile website, but in terms of speed, simplicity, and quality of the final result, a mobile website template is a great option.
