Since 2010 the use of the internet on portable devices, namely smart phones and tablets has seen an extremely rapid increase. As consumers engage in new technology, your website needs to keep up to par. Optimising your website for smart devices will enable better usability and greatly improve the visibility and impact of your brand. Here are a few tips on how to expand your website to reach smart phone users:

  1. Google now indexes mobile devices when searching keywords specific to mobiles. So use all the same search engine optimisation tactics, however optimise the keywords to be specific to mobiles, including: titles, headings and URL's. When using Google on a mobile there is favouritism to mobile optimised websites and apps. Google indexes mobile friendly URL's over websites simply made for desktop.

  2. One of the most important aspects to consider when presenting your website on a mobile device is the screen size. Smart phone screens have smaller screens and as such you need to rescale your images so that they are not pixelated. There needs to be fewer buttons and each button should be much bigger in size to combat the small touch screen area. Text needs to be shorter and precise with a larger font size. By optimising your website for mobiles in this way you are minimising the amount of scrolling and zooming around.

  3. When optimising your website you have a few options. Google Transcode and mobile subdomains are a couple of the easiest to utilise:
    • You can get Google to do all the work for you, which includes resizing images, buttons and text. Google achieves this by converting classic HTML to mobile HTML. The disadvantages are; images may be pixelated, text will be bigger, but may be missing words and entire indexed pages may also be missing.

    • A mobile subdomain is another option for a visually attractive website on mobile devices. Having a specific mobile URL keeps the classic optimisation separate from the mobile optimisation. Google bots will then be able to find your website easier as they search through mobile optimised websites.

A mobile subdomain is another option for a visually attractive website on mobile devices. Having a specific mobile URL keeps the classic optimisation separate from the mobile optimisation. Google bots will then be able to find your website easier as they search through mobile optimised websites.

Tablets are taking over laptops for the simple reasons that they are smaller, lighter and more convenient. Tablets are for people on the go and the top uses are blogging, social media and online shopping. This is great news for businesses operating online but only if you take the steps to stay ahead of your competitors. Here are a few tips on how to optimise your website onto tablets:

  1. The key difference between mobiles and tablets is not the screen size, rather the internet connection. Tablets predominantly rely on WI-FI and 3G, which means your website may take longer to load and as such you need to optimise your website to be simple and fast.

  2. The fewer pages on your website the user has to visit before getting to the goal (e.g. contact or purchase) the better. The consumer should not have to tap more than twice to purchase a product or enquire about a service. Consider having an app developed as there is less waiting and the purchasing system is easier to use.

  3. Have back and forward buttons as they are more visually enticing compared to scrolling through text. Having the majority of your content optimised on one page can be better than viewing multiple tabs on a tablet.

Both smart phones and tablets have two viewing angles: portrait and landscape. Optimising your website for both angles will offer your consumers the best user experience. To find out more about optimised websites for mobiles and tablets visit the professional Brisbane Website Designers at Eightball Media.



Source by Simon R Haltz