Your company has a website, which is great. But these days, people aren’t just sitting in front of their computers. If your website is not accessible on their Smartphones and tablets, you’re missing out on a huge segment of the market
Websites Not Optimized for Mobile Browsers
Websites load differently on Smartphones because the screens are much smaller than on laptops. If your website is not optimized for these smaller screens, the result can be type that is hard to read and websites that are difficult or impossible to navigate. If your website has too many flash and script elements, it may not even load on a mobile device. In such cases it’s worthwhile to create a separate website just for mobile devices.
Too. Much. Stuff.
Besides having smaller screens, many Smartphones have limited bandwidth capacities. If your website has too many elements, such as audio clips and streaming video, Smartphones may not be up to the technological demands. Resize photos so that they are small enough to load easily on mobile devices and limit other graphic functions.
Demanding Too Much from Users
Users who access your website through their Smartphones don’t want to sort through multiple pages. They also don’t want to download a lot of stuff – except maybe music files, and they don’t want to squint to read heavy blocks of text. Set up your mobile website so that people can get the information they want quickly. If they want to research something further – they’ll do so on their laptops or desktop computers.
Failing to Target Your Audience
No matter how awesome your product is, there is almost no way it will appeal to everyone. And even if you have a product that appeals to nearly all users, you must reach different segments of your customer base in different ways. Target your marketing efforts to different age groups, geographic locations and other factors.
Failing to Follow Up
You don’t want to be creepy about it, but you must follow up with users if you wish to cultivate them as customers. Provide opt-in options for mobile announcements, invitations to “like” your Facebook page or ask them to provide an email address for further communications. Otherwise, once they click away from your page, you may lose the chance to convince them to try your product or service.
Failure to Promote Your Mobile Site
Conventional websites aspire for high search results on engines such as Google or Bing. Mobile websites must also promote themselves on search engines that list mobile sites. Otherwise, you are missing out on an opportunity to generate traffic to your site without spending any of your hard earned money.
Generic Mobile Content for Different Mobile Devices
All Smartphones are not the same. A website that looks great on an Android powered device might look terrible on an iPhone. Test your mobile site on iPhones, BlackBerries, Android powered devices and Windows phones to ensure that the maximum number of Smartphone users can access your content without problems.
Misuse of QR Codes
QR codes can be a potent marketing tool. However, if you use QR codes, make sure that they land on a page that offers the discount or deal you’re using them to promote. Don’t direct users of your QR code to your mobile website’s home page in the hopes that they will navigate the entire site.
Being Hard to Reach
With a mobile site, it is imperative to provide contact information. It sounds basic, but too many mobile websites provide no way for users to contact the company. It’s best if users can call or send email with a single button click.
Failure to Track Responses
If you don’t track the results of your marketing strategy, how do you know how well it’s working? Tracking results allows you to determine what is working with your mobile marketing strategy and what needs improvement. Failure to do so can result in wasted effort, not to mention money.
Alicia Bell is a former businesswoman who now loves to spend her time writing about various business topics. You can find her articles mainly on business and marketing blogs. Visit the Juice Mobile to learn about their plans.