Top 5 Ways to Build a Mobile Web Presence

It seems that the old adage – time fly’s when you’re having fun – holds true!

While most of us have been texting for years all things mobile changed when apple released the iPhone almost three years ago.  Since then the competition to be best in breed, creator of sexiest and most advanced device on the market, between phone manufacturers and the carriers who supply their devices has combined to fuel the mobile fire.  As we all know that fire is burning out of control!

According to Neilson U.S. Mobile Web increased 4% in January 2010 from 67 million users to 69.6 million users.  However, more importantly than how many people are using the mobile is how long they use it for.  The average user session increased in from 4 minutes 57 seconds to 5 minutes 14 seconds in January as well.  It seems that the old adage – time fly’s when you’re having fun – holds true!

The increase in Mobile Web usage for longer periods of time is a direct result of content providers tailoring their sites specifically for the mobile device.  For example, sites like Google and Facebook, two of the most popular Mobile Websites, have done a great job when it comes to streamlining and formatting their content and user experience for the mobile device.  As the Mobile Web continues to evolve as the preeminent destination for internet usage, making sure your brand is positioned properly for that medium is becoming increasingly important.

To ensure we stay ahead of the learning curve here at Monday Morning Mobile I thought it would be a good idea to look at the Top 5 things to consider when creating your mobile presence a.k.a. your Mobile Website:

1. Make sure your Mobile Website is built using WAP – WAP stands for wireless application protocol and bridges the gap between the internet and the mobile world.  Since WAP is the global standard, not controlled by a particular company, it allows mobile subscribers to access the same information found on traditional internet,  but formatted specifically for viewing on their smaller mobile devices.
2. Phone Detection – With over 6,000 mobile internet browsers for all the mobile enabled handsets on the market today it is important to make sure that your mobile site recognizes the particular handset model on the fly.  Advanced WAP sites will automatically recognize and format accordingly for particular handset based on screen size and resolution.  One of the ways to determine if your provider is truly able to do this is if they can provide you detail mobile analytics.
3. Content Conversion – Similar to phone detection ensuring that your content such as audio, video and pictures, is converted appropriately for all mobile devices is extremely important.  Once the phone detection takes place, content can then be converted for viewing on that particular handset.
4. Understanding the mobile user – When creating your Mobile Website, think about what you would want to have access to on your phone.  Mobile Websites should be streamlined with regards to content and features for a friendly user experience.  For example, in real estate, people will want an easy way to search for properties and contact you if they find one they like.  In contrast, they may not need detailed area information at that point.

1. Drive traffic – Users should be able to access your Mobile Website by going to your existing URL.  You have spent a lot of time building your brand and online presence, continue to drive traffic there.  Using a site with built in phone detection will allow you to keep the same URL and send back the mobile version to users on a mobile browser – to them it’s just your website.  Furthermore, work with a company that provides other mobile services such as SMS/text messaging programs which can provide a good call to action to get people to text in and drive additional traffic to your Mobile Website.

To see examples of a couple quality Mobile Websites try these listed below:

Jordan Baris Mobile – http://www.jordanbaris.com from your mobile device

RISMedia Leadership Conference Event Site – http://risevent.mccid.com

The number of people and time they spend on the Mobile Web is going to continue to increase in the U.S. and around the world.  The quicker you transition your brand the better off you’ll be.

Read the edited version at: http://rismedia.com/2010-03-21/monday-morning-mobile-top-5-in-mobile-web

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