And of course, all this growth presents a variety of differing opinions on how best to give these users what they’re looking for, like Bruce Lawson’s “one web” concept and Jakob Nielsen’s findings in his “mobile usability sucks” study.

So here are some things you should know that will help make your mobile web site more useful and effective:

1. Content is King

No matter the audience or the medium, content is always king. If someone comes to your restaurant’s web site looking for a menu and find a bunch of pictures, they’re probably not going to stick around. They may not even visit your establishment. Provide the visitor with relevant content and they’ll come back with friends.

2. Focus on The Task

Users visit web sites for a specific reason. Again, regardless of the audience and the method, make sure the user can accomplish the task they set out to do. Flickr’s mobile site is perfect in that way… I go to flickr to look at photos. Flickr Mobile gets me to the photos fast!

3. Scale the Design and Deliver It Quick

Probably one of the major differences that should exist between your “desktop” site and your mobile site. Fast load time is important always, but it becomes more critical on mobile devices. Not to mention there’s simply not enough space for extra design elements. Since those elements can slow down load time, getting rid of some of them serve a two-fold purpose.

4. Usable Sites Get Used

If your site is difficult to use, hard to navigate or aesthetically unpleasing, chances are your visitors will go visit your competition. Organize your site and makes it easy to use by answering the task and content questions.

5. Make User Input Easy

When users are required to give feedback, it needs to be easy as pie (food, not irrational number). If your site requires users to enter their zip code or authentication credentials, if they can’t do it easily, they won’t – they’ll leave.

Some Great Mobile Websites:

1. Flickr
2. Twitter
3. Amazon
4. CNN
5. FlighStats

Need Some Help With That?

You’re saying, “All that’s well fine and good…. what do i do now?” Well, I’m glad you asked. Firestorm Creative Studios can help you put together the perfect mobile web site that’s easy to use and easy to maintain. Read more about our mobile web site design or get in touch to find out how we can help your site go mobile! And if you get a second, check out our site on your mobile device!

Citations:

1. http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007236

Got something to say?

Start a conversation by leaving a comment.

We had about 15-20 minutes to speak to a gathering of 30-40 rotary members, and we used that time to address how a website can lead to a businesses overall success. We gave the audience an overview of what makes a website good, and what can potentially make one bad.

We ended the presentation with a few tips on how to make their existing sites a little better, and how to make them a little yummier for search engines.

If you’d like to see the slides or re-read the presentation, please email us and we’ll gladly send you a PDF of the presentation.

Thanks again Destin Rotary and Rick for a great breakfast!

How can i know I’m getting a good website when i pay someone for it?

Don’t worry. There are a few constants in the vast expanse of variables that produce a good site time after time. If you, your company or organization needs a website and want to get an idea of what you’re getting into, or if you are among the millions who just want to know, here are a few essentials to getting a good solid website:

1. Purpose.

This could be the single most important factor that will help a website succeed or fail. A clear and defined purpose will help the other pieces fall into place. Why do you have a website? Who are you trying to reach? What are your objectives and how do you measure success? Purpose will allow you to make clear and concise decisions about everything from your color palette to technology and even features. Define clear objectives, plot your course, and move on to number two.

2. Clean Purposeful Design

I could have just said design here, but that doesn’t cover it. Ask any designer worth their salt and they will tell you that there is “design” and then there is “good design”; and the difference between the two is like east from west. Websites can be, and often are “over-designed” by amateurs who ignore design principles, throw every Photoshop trick in the book at a design and call it a website. Professional designers know what effective design is; and are experienced and disciplined enough to know when to stop designing. When talking about things like color choice, layout, imagery, and relevant metaphors, you really have to make a conscious effort to design with a specific idea in mind. In short, know your target (objective) and purposefully design towards it. And for Pete’s sake use white space! Moving on!

3. Clear Message

Every pixel of your website should have a purpose and a certain efficiency. Each one complimenting the others, together making up the content and imagery that shape your message and create a consistent brand image. Don’t try to fill up every last bit of space just because it looks “empty” (again – white space is important). Identify your target audience and what it is you want them to do. Make it easy on your users. Guide them where you want them to go, and help them find what they want to find with very little effort. Once you get them there, you have to provide them with the right information and a meaningful, compelling call to action.

4. Simple, Usable Architecture

How well are your pages and content organized? Is it intuitive? Will your target audience find what they are looking for? Can they use the navigation and is it understandable? If not, you’ll frustrate your users and they will bounce.

5. Reliable, Standards Compliant Framework

A good website must start with a good foundation. Starting from the ground up, quality, reliability and compliance with web standards means that your website will look the same and work the same in more browsers across platforms. What that means for you is a more consistent and powerful brand image to all of your website users.

6. Search Engine Marketing/ Search Engine Optimization

Hook Search Engines up with your website. Look at it this way: Search Engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN are your best friend, and you know this smokin’ hot website (yours) that would be perfect for them. A match made in Heaven (well, maybe utah). Making search engines like you is just a game – kinda like the game of love. Get it wrong and you’ll find yourself dumped. Do it right and you’ll be rewarded with lots of attention and free, targeted traffic . It’s not difficult, but like anything else it just takes experience, know how and planning.

7. Technical Excellence

Getting a clever, relevant and memorable domain name is huge. Having fast, efficient, managed hosting with enough bandwidth and reliability to handle all the traffic you’ll get from your great new website’s marketing, and knowing which technologies fit within your website’s objectives and goals are all marks of a good website. After you have all that, find a professional webslinger who knows how to spin a site like no ones business and you’ll have a GREAT website.

Check out our design showcase to see some of the good websites we’ve done for our clients. And if you need a good website, drop us a line and we’ll do the same for you.