Since the first iPhone was launched in 2007, I have been a fan, some could say addict, of the information that is now available to me where ever I have a mobile signal.

Having all of this information available at a tap of a button, coupled with some very clever apps, has changed the way I, well a lot of people, make decisions on what services or products they are going to buy.

I will give you an example, in the next few weeks I will be best man for a friend.  One of my duties was to organise the stag weekend.  Over the stag weekend, I used the iPhone to make informed decisions on what bars and restaurants to choose.

Future trends

Research has indicated that the number of internet searches from mobile (smart) phones will over take those from desktop computers in 2013.

Challenge for business

As smartphones are designed to go in your pocket and be mobile, the screens are not very big.  This means that a desktop website may not display very well and may be difficult to navigate on the move.

Below is some key points from a 2011 survey by modapt.com.

• 18% of smartphone users say their recent mobile browsing experiences have been frustrating.
• Navigating websites (40%) and slow downloads (40%) are the biggest challenges among smartphone users, followed by information that’s hard to read or find (20%)
• Smartphone users rely on their devices most for finding information about businesses (31%) and destinations (30%), but visiting social media sites is the biggest draw for roughly 20% of mobile audiences.

Therefore, it is important for businesses to have a website that is easy to use on a mobile device.  If not they will be losing out to competitors who do have a mobile version of their website.

Mobile website service

Over the past couple of months I have been working on a simple but powerful mobile website service.  I am pleased to say that a mobile website design service will be added to the range of services provided by Digital Ark from the start of August 2012.

Simple to use

The service has been deliberately designed to make it easy to find the typical information required on the move.  This meets one of the key requirements identified in the modapt.com survey.

Automatically detects mobile device

You can take a look the Digital Ark mobile website by simply visiting www.digitalark.co.uk.  The solution automatically detects the mobile and switches to display the mobile version of the website.  Again this ensures a good user experience as they do not have to do anything extra to view the easy to use mobile website.

Unlimited pages

Yes you can add as many pages as you want.  I would recommend that you don’t as you want to keep the user experience simple.

Make your own changes

Once the mobile website has been set up, you can change the content on the pages yourself, add new pages, change contact details, etc.  Or we can do this on your behalf as part of a managed service.

In Conclusion

The mobile web is here to stay.  The use of smart phones will continue to increase.  Users will want to be able to access data easily on a smart phone.  Therefore, it is important to get ahead of the competition by making sure your website can deliver a good user experience to smart phone users.

If you would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.