Facing a new reality

In the past 2 years, the percentage of consumers who are using smartphones to access the web has skyrocketed to more than 49 million¹. A recent study by Morgan Stanley predicted that by 2015 there will be more mobile web users than there are desktop users².

As the mobile audience continues to grow, our mobile devices continue to shrink in size and increase in functionality. They’ve gone from oversized “Crackberries” we used for constantly checking email to organic extensions of our hands and minds that nearly do everything for us. Need to pay a bill, make a dinner reservation, turn off your house lights, video chat with a customer service representative or kill zombies? There’s an App for that.

These increasing mobile web users want access to immediate, valuable information. Whether they’re commuting to work, in a meeting or waiting on dinner, their time is valuable and they expect to find the information they want and need instantaneously. As mobile platforms are rapidly becoming the dominant web venue, your business needs to compete effectively in this 24/7 marketplace and you can’t afford to be “out of pocket” when a transaction is on the line. You need to think, listen and act like a mobile user.

Here’s the good news

Although your existing website can be searched and viewed via mobile devices/smartphones (e.g., iPhone, iPad or Android), it doesn’t mean it’s mobile-ready. However, converting and optimizing your site for smartphones is probably faster, easier and less expensive than you expect. Here are a few things to consider when approaching a mobile-ready website design:

Develop a strategy. Approach it the same way you do your current website, with your customers’ user-experience and objectives in mind.

• Analyze your existing website, identify existing high-value content in short, digestible chunks to fulfill end user needs.
• Think about usability and how you will organize it. Keep it simple, easy to read and navigate, and above all, design it to fit mobile devices/smart phone specifications.
• Identify and evaluate the need for bells and whistles beyond news and copy text: video, graphics, form fields, instant calling, SMS message sending, etc.
• Determine how you will deploy your mobile site. It may be better to use a separate domain to display the site such as “m.” or “/mobile” instead of an adaptation of your current website domain.
• Test your designs on various mobile platforms to ensure site optimization and expandability.
• Execute an effective SEO strategy ensuring your mobile website appears in a search on any mobile device/smartphone or search engine.

Leave it to the professionals.

Have a web designer or interactive agency handle this project. Depending on the level of customization required, it’s not a difficult undertaking, and the rewards are potentially great. At Domus, our staff of enterprise-level designers and developers can convert an existing web site simply and easily, or we can customize a dynamic and effective selling environment to work on every major browser and handheld device. Our advanced knowledge of online and mobile communications will give you a significant competitive edge in exchanging information between consumers and your brand as well as identifying and reaching new mobile prospects.

Making your website mobile-compatible is just the beginning. With more than twenty years’ experience in the marketing and communications sector, we will assure that your marketing strategy is sound and your message has been crafted to deliver optimal content and drive sales.

Sources: ¹Comscore, Inc.; ²Morgan Stanley. Mobile Internet Report, December 2009.

Domus, Inc. is an integrated digital and traditional marketing communications agency that delivers unconventional thinking and out-of-the-box strategies that help our clients sustain growth and demand brand awareness.  For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.