Taking your Website Mobile

Michael Buczek - March 6, 2009

More and more people are using mobile devices to access the internet.   With the advent of the Blackberry, iPhone and iPod touch, surfing the web on the go has become better and easier.   As technology improves and prices of these devices become even more affordable, there is no doubt that more people will be search the mobile web for information.   The mobile web is extremely beneficial to search for store hours, price comparisons and other information that is needed when on the go.      

I personally have noticed that when searching from a Blackberry or other phones that are internet ready,   some websites do not even show up.   Searching from an iPhone is a little better, but websites that are flash are still not compatible.   You would make sure that your website can be accessed from any device.

A mobile website does not have to be a complete website with all of your information available.   Create your mobile website to include the most relevant information for the traveling user.   Here are a couple of examples of some mobile sites, giving only the info that someone on the go might need.

Movietickets.com offers information and online ticket sales for the latest movies.   Their mobile site allows users to explore show times, get news and buy tickets.   This is great for someone who is out and about and only needs the basic info.   What time is the movie?   Where is it playing? And, how can I get tickets so that I don’t have to stand in line?   You can get all of that from their mobile website.   Mobile.movietickets.com

Over the past weekend, I had to pick up some friends at one airport and my wife at another.   Unfortunately for me, their plans were landing at the same time.   Like most people, I was checking their flight status from home waiting to see which flight was delayed and who was going to land first.   When the time came that I had to pick them up, I grabbed my iPhone.   Waiting in the cell phone area, I was able to access AirTran’s iPhone ready website.   This version was exactly what I needed.   The options were limited so I didn’t have to do a lot of searching.   They incorporated only the most important features of their website.   It made my mobile searching experience easy.   Below is a side by side comparison of the mobile website compared to their main website.

The important thing to remember when creating your mobile site to is incorporate the information that will benefit your user the most.   For some sites, just having the phone number and an address will be sufficient, while others might need multiple store locations, and increased functionality.

There is no doubt that the number of mobile users is increasing, so you will want to make sure that your website is functional, no matter where they are searching from.