HGA Creative Communications

Mobile internet usage in the UK has risen consistently in the past few years, so the opportunity to capture customers whilst they are on the move is ever increasing. If recent trends and reports are anything to go by, then mobile sites could produce much higher conversion rates than standard desktop visits. Yet a massive 70% of company websites are not optimised for mobile browsing.

Why optimise for mobile?

Aside from the appealing conversion rates, creating a site optimised for mobile offers a better experience for the user. Images and text aren’t squished into a space so small they can’t display properly and navigation is much easier. You only have to think about previous experiences of visiting sites not optimised for mobile to realise how frustrating it can be for a user and how it ultimately serves as deterrence.

Who has a mobile site?

So, which clever companies are utilising this medium? A wide range of businesses, from big retailers like M&S, to online publishers like The Boston Globe and service lead businesses alike are all optimised for mobile. We have seen the popularity of mobile sites first hand; by designing and building one for past client Zenos (optimised for both mobile and tablet devices) we managed to generate over 450 applications for the training provider. The mobile site was responsible for 15% of all applications from the six week integrated campaign.

How can it be achieved?

There are two different strategies to consider when creating a mobile specific website. The first is to create a separate mobile site and redirect traffic to it. This is the strategy that M&S have adopted; a user is redirected to m.marksandspencer.com if they visit the site on their mobile. The mobile site has been specifically built with mobile devices in mind, this gives easy access to the menu and your shopping basket.

The second strategy is to scale your website to fit almost any device, which has been adopted by the Boston Globe. When you visit the Boston Globe you are served exactly the same website regardless of the device you are using, but the site itself looks different. On a mobile device, only the most important links in the main navigation are visible and the lead news items are still at the top of the page, while other items are pushed down to the bottom. The site remains pleasurable to use on any device.

So, which strategies should you use?

Well, it depends on your content. The second strategy (scaling content) works best if most of your content is text with a few images where your users are browsing at leisure. If you have lots of product categories or video, a dedicated mobile site may be more suitable.

Whichever strategy you choose (and our Digital Team can help with this), a dedicated mobile strategy is a wise investment, and will show your users that you are a modern company, willing to create media suited to their needs. And if you want to know exactly what we mean, then just visit our site from your mobile device.