5 Things You Can Do Now to Become More Mobile Friendly
Take a mobile audit.
Open Google Analytics and head over to Visitors > Mobile > Mobile Devices. Change the timeframe to January 1 to the present and Graph by month. Are mobile visits significant and growing? Are mobile visits contributing their share of goal conversions or revenues? If not, grab a mobile device and experience your website as a mobile user. Turn off wifi. Try to complete basic tasks. Find a phone number. Complete a form. Does your site require the Flash plug-in that isn’t supported by the device? Do images take a while to load?
Check your email newsletter.
Your email service provider may provide an “Email Client Usage” report. Check the prevalence of the iPhone OS to get a sense of your audience’s mobile email habits. Open your most recent email newsletter on your device. Is it too wide for your screen? Are the links difficult to click? Yesterday’s text versions of newsletters are evolving into today’s mobile versions, which are light on graphics, but still include clickable links.
Consider a bare-bones mobile website.
Don’t get paralyzed by the idea of building and maintaining a full mobile copy of your 100-page website. Pick out the top pieces of content and link to the browser version for the details.
Mobile style sheets can be a lifesaver.
For database-driven sites and blogs, a mobile style sheet may allow you to serve up a mobile friendly version without duplicate content. While they may not be as flexible as a custom mobile site, they can lead to a quick win.
Consider a basic mobile advertising campaign.
For some industries and services, mobile advertising makes perfect sense. The medium is so new that it’s still a novelty for mobile users. Need to reach people when they’re out and about? Give mobile a shot. Google AdWords offers a mobile ad format and Apple recently launched its iAd platform.