Mobile browsing is here and now. With estimates that over 50% of all mobile phones sold this year will be smart, preparing your website to become an amazing internet experience on these devices can be challenging. As mobile technology continues to evolve into tomorrow, keeping it simple today is a must.
How simple?
Think Cave Man simple.
Here some things Cave Men are thinking about when it comes to web site mobile optimization:
“Finger Big. Phone Small.”
Call if fat fingers, butt dial, or human factors engineering, there are physiological limitations that must be considered to ensure a great user experience. So, even if your Cave Man shaves his knuckles before visiting your site from his smartphone, making mobile web pages with BIG buttons and easy to discern icons, fonts and colors schemes will keep him from hitting you with a club.
“Want Fast. Phone Slow.”
Visitors to your site expect fast page downloads. From a desktop or laptop with a high-speed internet connection, a considerable percentage of users will abandon your site if a page fails to load in under 6 seconds. Mobile download speeds are most often significantly slower. So, keeping your mobile landing page lean and fast will keep your visitors from becoming extinct.
“Want Easy. Life Com … pli…cate …dud.”
Keeping it simple; this is a challenging exercise that will benefit marketers and their customers. I believe, as a general rule, most websites are too complicated: lots of links, lots of Flash, lots of buttons and popups. With limited real estate for the interface and a slower pipeline, marketers are going to have to focus. They’ll have to anticipate who will visit their mobile site and what are the 3 to 6 (that’s about as many buttons that will fit) most important things they’ll want to do when they get there. And that translates into understanding customers and their needs at a deep level. And when that happens, customer relationships start to evolve.
