How Mobile Friendly Is Your Website?

You know what it's like to experience an 'unfriendly' website on your mobile phone, right? For most of us we 'pinch & pull' till it hurts; and, then we're off to another site.  I'm sure you also know the feeling when you land on the front page of a person or business that is mobile-friendly. The experience is refreshing and delightful. Yes, we things to be fast, easy and simple. Basically all we want is to make a call, get directions and some basic information.like store hours. And, we REALLY like it when we can even set an appointment, grab a coupon, or make a discounted purchase online! 

But did you know that while most searches are done on a mobile phone (60%) over 80% of most businesses do NOT have a mobile friendly website? That's why Google wants to make things easier for consumers & businesses. In fact, Google has some tips for making your website more mobile-friendly. Here are Google's recommended "10 Mobile Best Practices":

1. Keep It Quick.--Mobile users are often short on time, squeezing in online tasks as they go about their day. So, design your site to load fast, easy to scan and find the essentials. Remember, you can always link them to your 'full website' for later use.
2. Simplify Navigation.--No one liks to be confused. Clear navigation and, on large or complex sites, search functionality will help your customers easily find what they need.
3. Be Thumb-Friendly.--People use their fingers to operate mobile devices...especially their thumbs. Design your site so even large hands can easily interact with it.
4. Design For Visibility.--A mobile-friendly site gets its message across without causing eyestrain. Make it easy for your customers to read...remember, , they may be in a place with low light.
5. Make It Accessible.--Ideally, your mobile site should work across all mobile devisces and all handset orientations. Find alternatives to Flash...it does not work on some devices.
6. Make It Easy To Convert.--No matter what your site's objective is, your customers need to be able to do it with a virtual keyboard and no mouse. Make it easy to buy something or contact you!
7. Make It Local.--Consumers look for local info on their phones all the time...from locating the nearest gas station to finding an oopen pizza place. Include functionality that helps people find and get to you.
8. Make It Seamless.--People  now use multiple screens throughout the day. Convert as much of the functionality of your desktop site to mobile as you can to create a seamless experience.
9. Use Mobile Site Redirects.--A mobile site redirect is code that can automatically tell if visitors are using a mobile device and send them to the mobile-friendly version of your site. (Note: MobiTalki can implement this redirect code so your customers get the best version of your site for their needs).
10. Listen, Learn, Rinse & Repeat.--Good mobile sites are user-centric, in other words, they're built with input from your audience. Ask your desktop site users what they want in a mobile website and make testing and optimization an ongoing process.

For more about making your business mobile-friendly go to MobiTalki.com.