Is Your Web Site Mobile Phone-Friendly?
With the advent of the iPhone and now the G-1 Google Android, more people are shopping online via their cell phones.
Don’t think you ever will buy something with your phone? I thought that too until a few days ago. My new G-1 scans barcodes, finds better deals online, and sends me to the site to make a purchase. Couldn’t be easier, and I love the convenience!
Using Andy Moore’s WordPress Mobile Plugin or a php file to detect mobile devices in your blog will make it come up beautifully on phones – try SEO Diva if you have Internet access with your phone and you’ll see what I mean.
Regular web sites won’t usually work well on on a mobile phone. Fortunately, it’s not that hard to make them phone-friendly. You need to add a cascading style sheet (CSS) to your web site that feeds specific instructions to a mobile browser.
TopRank Blog makes these suggestions:
When designing your CSS for handheld web browsers, here are a few things to consider:
- You have very limited screen real estate. About 2×3 inches or so.
- All fonts should be in their most basic format. Forget about color and typography.
- All images should be stripped out, unless they are absolutely necessary.
- Remove all advertising as you already have limited screen space.
- If you don’t need it, hide it. Remove any MyBlogLog, Twitter or other second hand services. Focus on your content.
- Remove all background colors. Basic black text on a white background is good.
- Create basic forms, if you choose to keep them. My advice would be to remove them and just showcase the phone number. They are on their cell phone after all.
- Remove Flash, Java and any plug-in content unless absolutely necessary.
- All in all, simplify.
You don’t have to be a CSS expert to do this. Head over to Elance or Odesk and hire someone to make one for you. It won’t be expensive, and if you sell any product or service it will certainly be worthwhile to make your site phone-friendly.
If you want to test your blog or site, you can do so on the live demo of Opera Mini…just type the URL in the demo handset.
My question is. When does this become necessary? How many users do you need to make spending the time that this would take acceptable?
And how long will this be relevant with the new mobile browsers heading for webkit?
Tertiuss last blog post..The 9 essential firefox addons for the website maintainer
interesting topic.
unfortunately, me and a lot of my musician friends are selling their wares via myspace pages. i wonder what those show up like on phones. probably not very well. however, i agree with tetrius above (i think) that it should be up to these little browsers in phones and other portable devices to catch up to and deal with the complexities of modern web pages as they are now.
Seems to me that we’re at a sort of horseless carriage phase with mobile phones. The fact that phones can’t show websites very well seems like something that’ll go away pretty soon, when having web-based phones is as common as having a cell phone is now (it’ll happen). In the meantime tho, good points.
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Thank you for sharing this article. Are there any mobile dependency while designing a site?
The use of phones to surf is so limited so far, that I dont see any use in making your blog phone-friendly! I would like to remind that in Europe above all, people have to spend a lot of bucks to surf the internet for a couple of minutes through their phones. Also, I think majority of users still prefer the old computer to surf the Web!
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Very nice post. I have been wodering about this for the last several months, but haven’t had the time to look into making my blog mobile friendly.I had no idea there was a wordpress plugin that would help do it. Very cool!
Thanks for the great info!
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There are mobiles that are capable of scanning things? I feel like I have been in hibernation or something! Your shopping technique sounds really, really great but I guess one of those phones must cost quite a bit to buy? So i’d lose the money i’d save…maybe someday in the future
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I really hope you would soon discuss the simple steps in making a mobile-friendly website as I am the only one fixing my online store. TIA!
Security Guards last blog post..Dec 11, what you need to know about security guard requirements in South Dakota
i think people are likely to read a blog on their phone – but I doubt they will post to it.
Off topic – how do you like the G-1?
I’ve heard from other bloggers that some plugins (there’s more then one) make there blog look mobile on a desktop, which isn’t a good thing.
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Sorry, forgot to tick the follow up box.
Dennis Edells last blog post..Only 5 Days Left To Sponsor The *Best Blog Review* Blog Contest!
Honestly I have never thought about this, my websites aren’t mobile phone friendly, I wonder how many sales am i loosing for this, but I have a question does SEO works the same for searches on mobile browsers
@Tertius – My response is, why not? I think one user is enough of a reason to spend 5 minutes adding a plugin. I was in the hospital when I read your comment on my G-1, so I went to your blog, and had a hard time reading it.
@Web Talk – Again, why not? Yes, it’s easier to use a computer to surf the web, but I know a lot of people that seem glued to their cell phone screens and use them for everything. I am not familiar with what it costs to surf on a phone in Europe, but in the US it’s included as part of many plans. That’s a lot of people to ignore.
@George – I took a look at your site yesterday via my cell phone – get that plugin on there, George!
@Lafayette Lawyer – I agree about posting to it, but then there is an application that makes it easy to do that very thing, so some people must do so. I love my G-1! Some of the applications absolutely rock!
@Dennis – I recommended the one above because it’s the one I use, and I’m pretty certain my blog doesn’t look mobile on a desktop. Let me know if it does on yours
. Thanks for cautioning us.
@Fred – search results come up the same in a mobile browser as a computer. Advertisers can now specify mobile phones in Adwords, though.
Wow, after deleting 237 spam comments because Akismet once again “fell off” my blog, I found some legit ones mixed in…I wasn’t ignoring you in my last response!
@Security Guard & Marble Host – I don’t know any more than what I have written in this blog article. Mobile is still pretty new for me.
It looks the same to me, although I don’t know what it looks like on a mobile…I’ll download yours.
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It’s 2.7 compatible?
Dennis Edells last blog post..How To: Evaluating Competition For New Site Niches
wow! another plug-in… and i can’t believe modern phones is that powerful now! Whew!
more convenient for us consumers ^^, well, i don’t own an android or iphone that’s why i don’t know this thing..but thanks to you i found this one ^^,
and maybe this trick is not that applicable to those normal blogs, as based on my understanding…. it’s only applies to those shopping sites. lol
Thanks ^^, nice post…
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Is there some soft package that will help to make your site mobile phone friendly????
Find it hard to believe that people would look for a home on the internet but it may happen. I remember when color came to internet. It was red or green letters to go with the white. It was stock quotes on a 286 computer.
Most agents and people in this business have no idea you can subscribe to a blog. I am however lucky in that we are so far behind we can watch to see if it works. We still ride street cars here, go to church, shun credit and talk to neighbors. Will be watching!
Eric- New Orleans Cos last blog post..French Quarter Market Update! Condos under 200k, yes there are some nice ones!
interesting topic.
but It’s 2.7 compatible??
Eric,
Looking for a home online from your smartphone will gain in popularity. We are already using qr codes to market homes. While very new, I believe with generation Y’rs, this will become the norm. You can see an example of this with a video on one our websites; http://www.LakeSammamishEstate.com , Buyers will be able to scan a qr code whith their phone and see nice big photos of a home on it;s own individual website. I believe this will be very big for condo buildings. A sign down at street level will have the codes on a sign an people walking by will instantly be able to view the available units in the building!
Best regards,
Brad Golik
http://www.SeattleLuxuryHome.com
I think we develop both protocols website like WAP and HTTP so that our web site open fast in mobile suing WAP.
thanks
How about a G-1 review – I’m DYING to hear more about it!
I think becoming mobile is becoming more and more important as new technology develops. It won’t be too long that all plans come with unlimited data plans, ability to easily navigate to any website, at any time. Start early and take advantage of the market.
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It’ll be the next wave of internet marketing – Mobile Marketing!
Ah, the times are really swift and people should get along faster too.
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Have to say – I’m not a big fan of mobile marketing.
With the interest use of mobile phones to surf the web, you should always test if your site is movlie friendly or not?
I’ve seen a huge improvement over the last year in mobile websites. I just looked at your blog via my phone and it looks excellent.
BTW – I, too, would like to hear more about the G-1. I am pretty amazed – a bar code reader?? I am already thinking of ways to put that into use in our business.
Andy | West Florida Componentss last blog post..What is Infrared?
hello Its really very first to me that website is mobile friendly?? That’s sounds good. Thanks for sharing the latest in the website. Your post is too good for having this type of knowledgeable post.
Wow, I didn’t know G-1 could scan barcodes, that’s amazing!
It’s interesting you bring this up… My company recently started talking about formatting our website to be cell phone/PDA compatible. Apparently it isn’t that hard, as you explained. There are companies that do this for thousands of dollars…
I really hope you would soon discuss the simple steps in making a mobile-friendly website as I am the only one fixing my online store.
It is extremely important to have a mobile friendly site or at least a version of a site for mobiles but at the same time cell phones internet browser are becoming more and more advanced and I don’t know how long will it be until all the WAP ready web developers will feel that they have work hard for nothing.
that’s good post! I have used opera mini for my mobile browser!
ladys last blog post..Investment Strategy
You wouldn’t believe that a few years back, shopping via your mobile phone seemed like a total nut job.
Brad, great insite and something for me to think about. You guys will be ahead of us so I will have some time to watch. I am one of the few agents in New Orleans who has an active website and blog ranked.
The brokers all have sites but they never want the agents to compete with the leads that they get. Sounds strange but true.
I still have a cell phone that does nothing but calls.
Eric- New Orleans Cos last blog post..New Orleans French Quarter Sunrise, Wake Up New Orleans !
Thank u much, i like it very much, i thought that borwser in Mobile Phone it’s OK!
Thank you. I will try one of these ideas on my site. I think that to be done as mobile phone frendly is a good idea.
This is really valuable! Many of our clients, and ourselves
haven’t given the importance to having Mobile Phone-Friendly Web Sites. Thanks
Having my websites accessible by mobile phone is a daunting task for the moment. I am yet to learn the curves of CSS. I believe that it should be the phone manufacturers who should come up with phones that would be compatible with any type of sites.
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Oh i didn’t know sites can be mobile-friendly. Thanks for the suggestions ! I would like my site to be mobile-friendly too.
Thanks you very much for such an informative article..i never thought to optimize my site this way…i appreciate your writing!
This is cool. I think I must start using this kind of tool.
JDs last blog post..Planning for Romantic Honeymoon : Honeymoon tips for your honey
You can use opra for your mini mobile and i am also using this.
Its good if the website is mobile friendly,but it doesn’t get a clear picture over it i think..So we need to move the cursor to view the site clearly..So we need to develop more..
Labelles last blog post..Las Vegas, Nevada
Smart Phones are here to stay for real estate! We were the first agents in the country to roll out our listings with individual websites that are mobile phone friendly that are accessed by QR codes.
Visit http://www.LakeSammamishEstate.com for a video tour of how we use this for marketing of our homes. Phone friendly to us is having our large photos above the fold so that the pictures are easy for clients to see.
Best of luck to all!
My first choice is mobile and I like latest model every time. This site is very nice. Site is attractive so everyone like to comments here.
i would recommend the mobilepress wp plugin that automatically converts your site to a mobile friendly format when visited via mobile. You can see an example on my blog.
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I want to know a thing..I have to make a new page for the same page I have made for my website or my current website will also be published..? If I want to make changes in my site( for mobile), without making changes in the real website how should I do this? I am confused in one more thing..the screen resolution of different handsets is different e.g. N70,N71,N73,iphone,Blackberry, pda(???), etc..So what should be done so that each and every handset is comfortable in displaying pages?
Those are great tips with great resources! Thanks you very much
I do not think you get enough traffic or sales from it right now. If you make site just for it i would make one that you get people to pay to list company on i do not see much else being done. Phone number or adresses would be best.
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Thank you very much for this useful article and the comments. I love this site as it contains good materials.
Does the plugin for make site listed for phones or better working. Some good points i know pages have to have less and load faster for mobile phone users.
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Whoa, it is cool. I like it. I am looking for how to test it on an iphone.
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