Features
The World of Mobile Internet Sites:
Get Your Site Noticed In The Competitive
Off Portal Market
At present mobile internet sites are predominantly used to sell content such as games, images and music, but they are becoming increasingly more important to brands as part of their marketing mix. Worldwide mobile subscriptions reached over three billion at the end of 2007 - equivalent to half the world’s population - making it an extremely widespread yet targeted medium, allowing marketers to create tailored campaigns for different audiences.
In 2008, mobile internet usage is set to increase significantly with the rapid growth of 3G handset penetration in the UK. Additionally, most UK operators are now leaning towards flat rate data tariffs, the mobile equivalent of broadband, meaning browsing the mobile internet will no longer be as costly to users. With increasing numbers of mobile internet surfers, the number of companies competing for consumers’ attention is set to increase. In such a competitive market usability is vitally important to ensure your site design and features entice the user and encourage repeat purchasing.
Guiom Peersman is the managing director of Dialogue Communications - one of the leading mobile solutions companies behind internet site design on mobile. He gives his top tips on how best to design your site to get it noticed and predictions on the future of the mobile internet.
1. Instand Access
Mobile, by its very nature offers any time any place access and so your mobile internet site must also reflect this. Instant gratification is important for a mobile internet user, therefore your site must be simple yet engaging.
In order to achieve this, it is important to understand that mobile internet sites differ in look and feel to standard internet sites. Obviously as mobile phone screens are much smaller than PC monitors the amount of content on each page must be reduced, retaining only the most important information. It is also vital to keep your mobile internet site pages as concise as possible, so that it downloads quickly to a phone.
2. Content and Layout
Another difference between the standard internet and mobile internet sites is that they tend to be much more vertical in presentation, with most of the information following from one section to the next. Like a traditional internet site, mobile sites need to be engaging, with regularly updated content to stop consumers becoming tired or bored of the site.
The text and images used on a mobile internet site should be customised to the size of the device and products, such as ringtones, images or videos, or the most relevant products need to be displayed in a prominent position to encourage purchasing.
3. Locating and NavigatingThe Future
As data charges are still a major concern for many users of the mobile internet, a site’s navigation is key as the user will want to access the content or service in as few clicks as possible, therefore using a dropdown menu is useful as it reduces the need for typing.
Also a good site should never use a scroll-bar as it makes searching more time consuming. A seamless user experience is important to the success of a site and by getting this right it will ensure the customer returns.
4. Mobile Marketing
Marketing and advertising your mobile internet site is also essential to encourage repeated hits. Text-to-browse campaigns are becoming popular as they are an interactive communication channel between the user and the mobile internet site. Ad words are also a valuable tool in the mobile market, helping to ensure your site is at the top of the search list and well advertised on mobile search engines.
The Future
The future possibilities for the mobile internet are endless, just like the internet. In Japan people already do their supermarket shopping on their mobile on the way home from work, or book their family holidays on their mobile. The UK is fast catching up so get your design right now and the future benefits could be huge.