Tag Archives: go mobile

More Evidence: It’s Time to Go Mobile.

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Mobile web

Image from awdp.org.

In the Wall Street Journal this week, Ed Nash said it’s now imperative to have a mobile web presence. He says the Web 3.0 party is already in full swing, so those who aren’t on mobile better get their dancing shoes on — it’s time to go mobile.

“With half of the total U.S. population already accessing the Web through smart phones and tablets, a mobile platform is a necessity.” —Ed Nash

Nash also says that to engage in the web-based world, you must be “broadly accessible and elegantly intuitive” — and your involvement in mobile web needs to happen quickly. Nash says he has heard from several big companies that they’re looking to implement mobile by 2014. That’s too late.

Very soon, mobile will be the primary way we access the web — and, in some places, it’s the only way people access the web. In the U.S., 25 percent of users access the Web exclusively through mobile devices. In Egypt, that number is 70 percent.

Just more evidence that the shift to mobile is here — this is the tipping point, and businesses need to go mobile ASAP. Luckily, there are intuitive tools available to make that easy. If you have clients who are thinking about mobile, mock up a Mojaba site and show them what’s possible. It’s free, and you’ll get their business if you show them the benefits of going mobile.

Visit mojaba.com to sign up for your FREE account today.

Bands are Behind on Mobile (an Infographic)

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Musicians are surprisingly behind when it comes to going mobile — this infographic, put together by Mashable in preparation for SXSW says nearly 91 percent of band websites provide a poor mobile experience.

But for big music festivals and other on-the-go events where users hear about many bands for the first time, it’s extremely important to offer good information to a mobile user. More fans, more merchandise sales, and more ticket sales next time the band comes to their hometown. A good mobile site is a key part of discovery and relationship-building when it comes to garnering new fans.

And check out the common complaints (from users) near the bottom. Though they’re specifically talking about band websites, you can bet they say the same things about other mobile websites — maybe even your clients’ mobile sites. Rock on, dude. Go mobile. (See a bigger version of the infographic here.)

P.S. Don’t use ShareSquare. Use Mojaba. It’s better, we promise. Check out all the cool new features in version 1.2, and go to www.mojaba.com to sign up for your account today.

Farm Service Agency Mobile Website: Nice Try, But…

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A few weeks ago, the USDA’s Farm Service Agency went mobile, and it made pretty big news, surprisingly (at least here in Iowa):

“Acting Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse said as more farmers and ranchers are using mobile devices and high-tech tools, so the government must keep up.” —KCCI

Good reasoning. Good strategy. So we took a look. This is what we found:

Clockwise from top left: 1) FSA's mobile landing page. 2) An article headline page. 3) Article text. 4) News release page.

This is not the best of mobile websites. It may be more readable than a desktop website on a mobile device, but it still has some less-than-ideal qualities. Here’s what we didn’t like:

  • Hyperlinks: The bright blue hurts our eyes! And the links aren’t very thumb-friendly. We’d suggest buttons or wide text blocks to direct users to the articles. Also, we’d like to see shorter headlines that fit better on mobile.
  • No navigation bar or buttons: How do we get around this site? The navigation is not immediately clear, making for a clunky mobile experience.
  • Images: The images seem too small across the top. And the lack of images (and design elements) throughout the site make it seem a bit dry and text-heavy.
  • Text: Again, it’s just too small. Text on a mobile phone should be about 16-point size to minimize eye strain and improve readability.
  • Reader: You see the “Reader” button in the URL bar for the article page? That’s a nice feature to improve readability. Click on it and you’ll go to a page that’s better-formatted for mobile, but there are still some vertical spacing issues that detract from the content.
  • Other issues: Inconsistency with the article format. On some stories, the text isn’t too small — it’s too big, forcing you to scroll left-to-right to read it. Tipping your phone doesn’t help, and you can’t pinch to make it smaller.
But there is a bright spot in this mobile experience. The “AskFSA” button on the home page takes you to a new window with a beautiful mobile landing page. The text is big, there’s plenty of white space and easy-to-read buttons. And the buttons load up content that’s perfectly sized for mobile — complete with big buttons at the bottom asking if you thought this answer was helpful. There’s also a large (semi-transparent) dropdown menu navigation bar that leads you to the homepage or to the contact page. Overall, the AskFSA page is easy on the eyes (and thumbs), so we approve.

 

Have you seen a good (or bad) example of a mobile website lately? We’d like to know! Leave a comment below to get in touch with us.