subject: Why Most Sites Look Terrible On The Mobile Web.. And What You Can Do About It [print this page] A paradigm shift has occurred in mobile phone technology and most people are only barely aware of it. Its effect on Internet marketing will soon reach epic proportions and could change the way we all do business for the rest of our lives. By 2011, it's reported that mobile advertising alone will generate $150 billion annually. It's based on a simple truth. The mobile web is a vast, untapped marketplace filled with affluent customers. If you aren't actively serving mobile content to your website visitors you're missing the opportunity to maximize these users' experience - and ultimately, your bottom line.
405 million potential customers.. And counting.
There are over 405 million mobile Internet users worldwide, according to Internet research firm eMarketer, and this number is expected to double in the next 4 years. This new marketplace allows customers to browse the web, and your site, on the go. They can buy their favorite music while on line at Starbucks, or place an order from Amazon's mobile website while waiting for the bus. The point is, the mobile phones and other portable devices being made these days allow their owners to stay connected to the web 24/7, and they're using this service.
In fact, mobile web traffic has far surpassed traditional web traffic in South Africa. "We now have around double the amount of cellphone net users in the country as opposed to classic desktop Internet and there is also every indication that the gap will grow bigger, given the reach and penetration rates of mobile phones" says Matt Buckland.
But, there's a problem..
Most websites look terrible on mobile phones! But, if you think about it, they should. It's ok. That's what they were meant to do. Most websites are created specifically to look great on a desktop computer or laptop's browser. Those devices have wide screens, lots of power for rich graphics and support for many third party plug-ins, not to mention very sophisticated browsers. They render every "bell and whistle" that any web developer worth his salt throws at them, and they do a pretty good job.
Mobile devices in contrast typically have tall screens, a smaller processor chip and lack many features of a traditional computer such as a full browser or third party plug-in support. For example, the iPhone still won't display flash or java content, so if you are not actively detecting plug-in support for every user and serving them alternate flash or java content, your users are seeing a "missing plug-in" graphic when they view your content. This is even worse when you consider that many sites out there today are "all flash" sites. The customer is left staring at a blank page! That can't be good for sales.
Also, mobile devices with touch screen support are being released faster than ever. This brings up major usability issues for interacting with traditional websites. For example, consider that "rollovers" just no longer work. There's no mouse, so there's no way to rollover anything. Furthermore, links that are spaced properly for a normal website will be difficult to tap (not click, remember your visitor isn't using a mouse) because a finger is about 65 times wider than a mouse cursor. But if you put 65 spaces between each link on your website, I'm willing to bet that wouldn't look too good either.
Another key consideration is how fast mobile Internet connections are. Most mobile phones use a slower connection than standard broadband service, however provide "always on" service from anywhere inside the users coverage area. This is causing a lot of website owners a lot of grief, as their masterpiece creations trickle down over the phones 3G (or worse) connection to the customer's browser, only to render too small to read without pinching and zooming. I imagine the prospective customer is none to happy either.
Browsing behavior is considerably different also, as recent studies have shown. Most mobile web users know what they are looking for, they want to get it and move on as quickly as possible. Thus, your job becomes that of structuring your offering in a way that facilitates this point and enhances your offering.
"I know that half of my advertising dollars are wasted, I just don't know which half." - John Wanamaker
These points are noteworthy as they're part of the reason you'll be able to reach all these new customers - once you know how. Let me explain.
Weaknesses aside, the mobile platform provides the ability to deliver feature-rich webpages which interact with native device capabilities, such as the phone, mail, video, audio and maps applications, providing numerous marketing, advertising, lead generation and sales opportunities. You just have to make the site in such a way to take advantage of these capabilities.
Millions of people all over the world have these shiny new devices, and after they've used them for awhile, they start to experience some the troubles I've described above first hand. You may very well be able to attest to this should you fall into this group.
Many online retailers also realize this and create mobile website solutions which work great on mobile devices, allowing them to generate additional revenue by maximizing the user experience for these visitors.
What do I mean by maximizing the user experience?
In a nutshell, it means custom tailoring your marketing strategy, your website presentation and all the elements of your online presence, to leverage the capabilities of modern mobile devices. These mobile microsites can stand alone or work as companion sites for a larger site; detecting and reacting to mobile traffic automatically.
What about older phones?
Forget about them! For most online retailers, those customers represent such a small fraction of their conversions that it's simply not worth it to make the marketing investment. The way to maximize your ROI is to cater to this new marketplace by serving mobile web content that provides a rich user experience. About 85% of all smartphone operating systems in the US support modern mobile technology such as interaction with maps and phone, according to a recent AdMob survey. My experience has been that it's way more profitable to target this market.
How do I get a mobile website?
There are several ways which I will cover in my next article, but in order to make it easy for anyone to create a mobile website and begin reaching millions of new customers, I've creatediMicrosites.com. iMicrosites is a service that allows anyone to instantly create feature-rich mobile webpages, optimized for today's modern smartphones and devices. No web programming experience is necessary; the online toolkit is easy to use. Simply fill in your desired content, choose or customize a theme, set a few options and publish your information instantly to your mobile webpage - it's that easy. The service supports advanced features such as mobile analytics, mobile advertising, lead generation and HTML content support. Visitsite.imicrosites.com for a free trial.
I hope this article has helped shed some light on why most websites look terrible on the mobile web, and the value of targeting content tailored for these millions of potential customers. In my next two articles, I'll share my secrets for designing killer mobile websites, and finally how you can utilize all these concepts and tools to reach millions of mobile customers.
