Mobile sites fall into one of two categories. A site can be easy to navigate through and fun to use. A site can also be hard to find and follow. This makes the person want to forget about it and move on.
It’s always important that your site falls into the first category. In order for your mobile-friendly site to achieve this goal, you must first ask a few questions.
1)What is wrong with my mobile version? There has to be something wrong for it not to have the traffic that it should.
2)Why do I have such low numbers? There is usually a reason for the low numbers. It could be any number of things. It’s up to you to figure it out.
3)Am I adhering to the practices that I should be for my site. This could be on the of the reasons why the the numbers are down. If your mobile-friendly site doesn’t adhere to certain compliance issues, than your traffic and rankings will reflect it.
Now that I have gone over some of the basics, let’s look into how this can all be fixed. Think of this in the same vain you would a plumbing issue. Until you know the exact reasons why your mobile-friendly site is not performing well, there is no way you can fix it.
Allow me to illustrate the point with some factors you need to be looking at.
MINIATURIZATION VERSUS MOBILIZATION: DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE
Some feel that by making their information smaller on a mobile device, they can and will achieve their desired goals. This is not true. In fact, this will do more damage to your brand, if you do it this way. This allow the user experience to take a back seat.
You have to have a firm grasp and understanding of these two terms and their meaning, if you are truly going to capture the user experience. All the information you put out for your mobile device needs to be for that device. Your site has to use technology that makes this possible.
Your mobile site needs to adapt to the environment. If you need more help with this, there are some tools online that can help. Making it miniature is not going to solve your problem. Making your site mobile-friendly will.
PLATFORM UX IS A VITAL PART OF YOUR NEW MOBILE-FRIENDLY DIRECTION
Part of this platform means sticking with the basics and experimenting with the rest. The UX platform looks over how people use their devices. UX readily sends out reports. You users shouldn’t have to learn a new way of doing things. This is why you need Platform UX.
If you don’t know the history of Platform UX, than go online. It’s best to know everything there is to know about this platform before you use it.
DON’T IGNORE YOUR TECHNICAL LIMITATIONS
When you build your applications, please make sure you are using a basic model. If you make it too advanced, most of your users will not know how to work it. This is why some experience technical limitations the way they do.
If one of your applications takes up too much space or drains the battery very quickly, than you are going to be in for a bumpy ride. It’s best to know what your specific guidelines are, this way you can implement them. If you don’t know what your limitations are, maybe you should find out. It’s not advisable to move forward if you have no idea what your limits are.
SOME FINAL THOUGHTS ON THIS MATTER
When you design your mobile-friendly site, you need to keep the size of your screen in the back of your mind. This is not a laptop or PC. This is a mobile device. Make sure everything is applicable to a mobile device.
You only have a small screen to play around with. You have to make sure fingers can easily access things. One of the target buttons should be between 45-57 pixels, no more or less.
Try it out. Always try things out from your end first. If you can’t handle it from your side, what makes you think your users will be able to. You also have to think of the first-time users. Don’t assume that all first-time users will know how to use your site, or navigate through it. Some of them will be able to, especially if these few have used a site like yours before, but not everyone is like that.
Part of having a mobile-friendly site is that you cater to almost every user out there. Your users will range from the basic beginners to the seasoned pros and experts. Be weary of this.
If you keep these few tips in mind at all times, your mobile-friendly device should be approachable and workable for everyone. Continue to conduct experimental tests even after your site is up and operational. It’s the only way you will succeed with a high-quality mobile-friendly version of your brand.
