Is Your Site Mobile Friendly? Does it Matter?
Making your site mobile/iPhone friendly is
relatively simple to do. If you’re a WordPress blogger, all you have to do is
install WP Touch and adjust the options to suit
your liking.
But if you are among the bloggers that haven’t
created a mobile-friendly version of your site, you are not alone. The vast
majority of sites on the Web do not have mobile-friendly versions, especially
small-to-midsized sites, and there doesn’t appear to be any rush to add the
capability.
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Is Your Site Mobile Friendly? Does it Matter?
Though the growth in mobile browsing has grown
faster than desktop Web browsing, it still only makes up a fraction of overall
Web surfing. Furthermore, even those who are using mobile surfing are not
generally using it as their primary or sole means to access the Web, but
rather, are using it for specific tasks.
This begs the question of how important mobile
optimization is for Web sites and if it is something bloggers should worry about.
The answer, however, is far from cut and dry.
Mobile IS the Future
To be clear, mobile browsing is the future of
the Web or at least a bit part of it. There isn’t much debate about that.
Internet use on mobile phones is growing rapidly and with the introduction of
new devices, such as the iPad, that are targeted for this purpose, that trend
is only going to speed up. Factor in netbooks, which function as PCs but serve
a more mobile-oriented function, and it seems the days of a desktop computer
are numbered.
That may be the case, but more likely we are
heading to a more hybrid environment where all methods of accessing the Web are
used in conjunction. Desktop PCs will continue to be around in some form, but
consumers will use other means to access the Web as well, making them less
dependent on their non-mobile machines than they already are.
But this revolution isn’t being fueled just by a
desire to cut the cord, but also by the amazing power of these tools. In just a
few short years a mobile browser has gone from being able to only display text
to browsers, such as those on the iPhone and Droid, that are capable of
displaying text, images, video and the full layout of the page.
In short, the mobile revolution is less about
making sites that work well on mobile phones and more about making mobile
phones that work well with Web sites. This is great news for Web developers as
it keeps standards consistent and lets users access our sites no matter where
they might be.
While there are still some heavy concerns for
Web developers, including the limited speed of mobile Web access (even over 3G
networks), as mobile broadband becomes more common, those fears will wane,
making the existing Web even better for those using mobile devices.
It’s About the Apps
However, just because mobile browsers can
display content on any Web site doesn’t make it an ideal solution. The problem
is that traditional Web sites are formatted for much larger screens, requiring
the user to take extra steps to view it on a mobile device, usually zooming in
and scrolling around the screen.
Mobile versions of a Web site can mitigate that,
making it easier to browse as well as faster to load on the limited connection.
Though the burden of viewing a full site on an iPhone is not that large, having
a mobile-friendly version can make your site more appealing to those who do a lot of mobile browsing.
However, according to an article by Gigaom for
Businessweek, mobile browsing may be giving way to apps for specific sites and
services. Already there are countless apps for Facebook and Twitter, but even
some individual blogs are getting in on the game, including Mashable.
These apps provide a tight, integrated, and
speedy experience that can’t even be matched by a mobile-friendly site. Throw in push alerts and other notifications
and it easy to see why these apps may be the way of the future. Not only are
they more convenient for users, but they offer new opportunities for publishers
to connect with readers.
Whether this actually comes to pass or not,
especially with the growing acceptance of HTML5 for building Web-based apps,
but it is easy to see why it might be very tempting.
Is It Right For You?
This leaves bloggers in a pretty strange
position. Should they keep going as is, create a mobile version of their site
or perhaps invest the time and money to create a mobile app? There is no right
or wrong answer.
The key lies in how visitors are using your site
now and in knowing your audience. If you write a blog that talks about mobile
gadgets, then you probably need at least a mobile-friendly site, possibly even
an app. If you write about how cell phones are evil and are destroying society,
you probably shouldn’t bother.
Most sites, however, lie somewhere in the middle
and have readers that will come to it from multiple sources. If you look at
your traffic stats, you should be able to get a feeling for how big mobile
browsing is on your site and if it is worth creating something a new version to
cater to them.
Given that, for many bloggers, creating a
mobile-friendly version of the site is as easy as installing a plugin, there
probably is little harm in doing so. However, if you use certain caching
systems, you may find that WP Touch is incompatible, as I did.
If you don’t have a large mobile audience at
this time, there probably isn’t much cause to take action. However, you
definitely do want to keep an eye on the mobile market and start thinking about
when might be a good time, in your niche, to make a more concerted effort.

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