Six Steps To Mobile Nirvana

1.    Forget about your desktop Web site. It is almost a reflex action to use your desktop site as the basis for your mobile site. However, when you consider how your customers and prospects are likely to use your mobile site – as well as the small screens and number-based keyboards of mobile phones – it’s clear that a “from the ground up” approach is the best design methodology.

2.    Put yourself in the mind of your customer. It may be “Marketing 101,” but consider the end user when making decisions about the design and content of your site. Thinking about what information your mobile customers are looking for can be the difference between a great mobile site and a bloated disaster.

3.    Get your .mobi domain. Well of course we would say this, but the reality is you need a home for your mobile site – and .mobi is the world’s best-known mobile designation with hundreds of thousands of active sites worldwide. Plus, the .mobi domain gives you an additional zone file entry (for enhanced discovery by search engines). And it costs less than the price of a good steak!

4.    One size does not fit all. There are thousands of handsets in use around the globe; each one has its own capabilities and restrictions. In developing a great mobile site, it’s important to deliver the best possible experience to all your customers, not just those who have the latest smartphone. That’s why dotMobi created DeviceAtlas™, which lets you know the capabilities of thousands of phone models so you can design content that will work on them all.

5.    Help your customers find your mobile content. Once you create a great mobile site, you should help your customers to find it. Having a .mobi is a great first step but it is also hugely beneficial – and very easy – to have your desktop Web site recognize mobile visitors and redirect them to your mobile site. dotMobi has published free sample code to do this on our mobiForge developer forum.

6.    Promote your mobile site. No matter where you advertise, your customer can have an immediate interaction with it – and your business -- via mobile … but only if you include your mobile address. Most operators are not offering “flat rate” data packages, so mobile customers are hesitant to access “.com” or “.org” sites since they may take quite a while, and quite a lot of money, to download. So if you’re advertising, for example, in a magazine that’s read by people on the move, make sure to add your .mobi address.

All very well in theory, but is all of this practical?

Yes! In fact, it’s essential. If you don’t offer your mobile customers a great experience, one of your competitors will. To illustrate, let’s look at Barclays Bank and see how they have addressed the key points above.

(1) Barclays Bank uses barclays.mobi for their mobile site. The screenshots below show that the branding carries over from the desktop to the mobile site, but the content is completely different. The mobile site offers a clean, easy-to-navigate interface. They have not simply ported their desktop to mobile (2) but have also presented an optimized mobile interface (3).

If you visit their desktop site (Barclays.co.uk) on a mobile device, you will be automatically redirected their mobile site (5). Also, Barclays have been actively promoting the site and getting a lot of high profile coverage. (6)
                       

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