As technology progresses and smart phones become the norm, having a web presence that is optimized for Android, iPhone, or Blackberry is becoming more important. The word is still out on how much commerce will be done via smart phones, but at the very least, making sure your website works with the most common mobile devices is crucial.
Most smart phones, by default, will display your website in a fairly usable and understandable manner. However, having the information optimized, precise, and easier to find, may help a potential client or customer find your phone number or address more easily while in the car, or walking around. Keep in mind that with an optimized mobile website for iPhone or Android, you get the flexibility of quicker load times which works well over a standard 3G network.
Chico Web Design’s Mobile Website
We recently launched our optimized iPhone, Android, and Blackberry mobile website. We kept the design and functionality to a minimum because we feel that most people visiting our website on their phones, will be looking for basic information like phone number, and address. If they want a full experience, and are looking to hire our firm to create a web presence, I would only presume that they would be using a desktop or laptop computer to do so. Therefore, we took the most relevant content, created a few new design templates, and created a mobile website.
Why a Mobile Website and not a APP?
This is a relevant question that I, as a business owner, debated before going down the mobile website path and here is why.
- Cost
- Multiple device compliant
- No eCommerce
- Content value
Cost
The cost to develop a mobile website is far cheaper then developing an application for a specific device. Our mobile.chicowebdesign.com took about 15 hours total.
Multiple device compliant
This was probably one of largest factors in my decision to go the mobile website route. Do you make an app for iPhone, Android, or Blackberry? Or do you make one for all? Since we opted to not create a specific application for each operating system, we are essentially providing the same value no matter what phone or device that you are on. Therefore, like your Mac or PC, we are suited to handle any request by any device. Not to mention, if someone wants to visit your site, they do not have to download, enter passwords or go to any app stores to get it. Therefore, our exposure is higher.
No eCommerce
Since there is no shopping done on our website, we decided again, to not go the app route. If there were transactions taking place, I.E. bill payment, or product purchasing, we may have considered it.
Content Value
Since our mobile website is purely informational and content driven, this lead to the fourth and final check mark as to what to design. We aren’t releasing a game, and we’re not providing any entertainment value other then information, phone numbers, and addresses.
If you or your company is interested in optimizing your website for mobile browsing on an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry, contact us today for a quote.