May 26, 2015 Articles No Comments

You’re just getting your head around a how a normal website works and now mobile websites have come along. You may be wondering “What are they”, “How does it work?” but more importantly “Do I need one?”

In Australia the states are out!  12% of Australians are searching for products and services via their mobile phones, and the numbers are just growing.  So the answer is YES, you do need a mobile website.

Most people these days have a website for their business that work on mobile devices. The question is, is your website fully functional or optimised for a mobile device?

Mobile websites tend to be a short version of the original website, in which case if your website is a sticky and popular site then you should be considering the development of a mobile alternative if you haven’t already.

 

What are they – What should go on it?

Mobile website should be a cut down version of your site, just keeping the essentials that your users find useful.   For example this could be a 3 page mobile site that has your: contact details, about page, and services.

 

How does it work?

There are two strategies when build a mobile website:

1.) An optimised version of the original
A mobile website can be a reiteration of the original, just optimised in size, space, functionality and design.
It means building content and design on your main website and then optimising an alternative design for mobile. The optimisation consists of an additional file which is designed/coded to say “cut this out, cut that out, make this smaller, use this button instead.” In the end you’re left with a mobile version of your site.
It may also involve some new graphics or anything that can be tweaked to enhance the user ability for a mobile version of your site.
This strategy is ideal because your still maintaining one site.

2.) A completely separate site
The other alternative is to create a completely separate mobile site, one which essentially stands and is maintained separately.
It gives a little more freedom in terms of design and functionality.
This is ideal if, as mentioned above, you’re thinking out of the box and want to give your users something completely different as a mobile experience. (ie. something like an app rather than a website)

The best part about building a mobile website is that they are reasonably inexpensive to develop.

At Xpand Online we believe that mobile websites are part of the future of web design. We design all our website to include a mobile version.

 

If you would like to speak with us in regards to building a mobile website for your business please contact us here.

Written by Tracey Jarvis