Characteristics of a Mobile Site that Converts

When browsing the Internet, fingers and mouses act in two completely different ways as devices for navigation. They are separate, and they are not equal.

And when browsing the Internet, the platforms that can be used are different. Internet users these days consist of people using desktops, tablets, and smart phones, and each type of user engages with the Internet in a completely different and unique way while having different levels of expectations for their devices.

Because of the different functionalities of websites on different devices, users will need an interface that captures the demand for the consumers' needs in terms of usability and interactive-ness with the website. That means that if you want your mobile visitors to stay on your web site, then you will have to build both a mobile site and a full site.

According to useit.com, here is what the characteristics of a good mobile site should be, as well as some of the things that you should keep in mind while building a mobile-optimized site.

• Cut features that are not necessary and not useful to mobile users.
• Make sure you are featuring your most important and main content. Secondary information should go to secondary pages.
• Enlarge your interface elements to accommodate for the "fat finger" effect
• Make sure you include a link to the full site on the mobile version, and a link to the mobile site on the full version. You will also want to auto-redirect mobile users to the full site. Search engines still rank full sites much higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs) so users are often misguided to the full site.

Flawed Arguments for Rationalizing Feeding Mobile Users the Full Site

"Eliminating certain features or content will ultimately disappoint some of the mobile users and therefore it is better to serve mobile users the full site"

Opportunity cost is one of the fundamentals of economics and even of basic marketing. You may think that some of your secondary features may be essential, however mobile users might not necessarily share your thoughts. Mobile users want in, and then they want out - and they want their search to be fulfilled in an instant. More than ever, mobile usage is about speed. For this reason, you want to make sure that you are satisfying the large majority of your mobile users by providing easy access and awesome usability to your best products, services, or content - even if that means sacrificing some secondary information.

Remember that a "big gain that is experienced often will outweigh a small penalty that is suffered rarely." If you aim to satisfy almost all of your mobile user’s needs, then the cost of the extra interaction demand of following the link to the full site will only happen very rarely.

Note: Right now ImageWorks Studio is offering $500 off for designing your first mobile site. This offer also applies to our existing clients. For more information about our mobile site development services, contact us now! The key to getting into the mobile market is getting there fast and getting there first!