Technology has been rapidly developing and while that has made information much more readily available, it has given those of us that deliver information, a few more things to consider. This article is intended for those people who own businesses and want their website to reach as many potential customers as possible.
Based on our own studies, we have found that more than 50% of web traffic comes from mobile devices and tablets combined. In the case of our happy hour marketing sites, that number is closer to 80%. What does this mean for you and your website? It means, you need to make sure you are accommodating smaller screen sizes. Especially if you own a business like a restaurant or bar, where much of your traffic comes from people who are out-and-about on their mobile devices. Just look at that 80% statistic. If your site does not work on those smaller devices, you could be turning away 80% of potential customers. As a side note, restaurant & bar owners may want to read our section on restaurant & bar marketing.
Responsive Website Design
Responsive website design means that the website responds to various device and screen sizes, and scales appropriately. This design approach allows each website to work well on a variety of device sizes including desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones.
Content Filtering
One thing we have heard from some people is that the mobile experience does not need to provide the same information that desktop does. In those cases the website owner decides what information people have access to. We disagree with this approach. A well-planned and well-designed site should be able to present the same amount of information in different ways, without excluding anything important. The navigation may simplified to bring attention to the most popular sections, but the rest of the content is still available.
Flash
Have you ever visited a website on an iphone only to see a message “Get Adobe Flash Player”. You may not have encountered this if you’re not using an iphone but for nearly a third of all smartphone users who have iphones, that website won’t work. That could be a huge chunk of your traffic that sees nothing when they visit your website. A website that doesn’t work hurts business. Especially for a local restaurant that is trying to capture business from people searching on smartphones. I don’t recommend using Flash for an entire website but if you absolutely have to, please make sure to provide a non Flash alternative. Most of what Flash can do, can also now be done using just HTML5, CSS3, and a little Javascript.
When do I Need a Mobile App?
In most cases, a responsive website design is the most cost-effective solution that will give you everything needed to present your website to mobile users. As features and interactivity get more complex, developing a native app for Android and iOS may be necessary. We normally recommend to start with a responsive website, and if that isn’t enough, then consider going native.