There are various approaches in addressing website's mobile compatibility. They differ by amount of development efforts involved and, subsequently, command different price ranges.
3 ways of mobile implementations:
· Simply make sure that a website looks acceptable on mobile devices (smart phones and tablets).
In this case, all that the developer has to do is to check whether the website layout and functionality works properly on mobile devices. For example, potential incompatibility issues between desktop and mobile devices could arise from:
o Flash (not available on iOS; spotty on Android platforms);
o Layout (make sure that it scales properly for smart phones and tablets);
o addressing limitations and specifics of touch-based interface (for example, there is no "mouse over" on mobile devices, but users are used to use "swipe");
o Advanced JavaScript functionality (lately JavaScript on mobile platforms is a very much standard compliant, but still, if desktop website uses some non-trivial Javascript, you better make sure that it also works on targeted mobile platforms).
NOTE: if custom JavaScript functionality was implemented using industry standard frameworks (like jQuery, etc...) chances that it will work on mobiles are rather high. However, if it's home-bred solution your mileage may vary.
· In WordPress there is a very popular plugin:WPtouch Pro. It is a WordPress plugin that adds easily configrable themes for mobile devices. WPtouch Pro is also a theming framework for creating mobile themes.
Basically, you install WPtouch Pro plugin and via it's admin interface configure the mobile version of the website.
Sounds like a sensible way to create a mobile version of the website, isn't it? However, there is an important issue that must be addressed. The above approach works for blogs and websites with simple architecture. Web analytics reports and research are showing different behavior patterns for mobile visitors vs. desktop. Therefore, giving a mobile user a desktop experience may result in bounces and decreased conversion, if any. Hence, comes the 3rd way of mobile implementation.
· Providing a mobile-optimized experience for the visitor.
It is generally accepted that mobile visitors are on the go, so they consume information in smaller amounts, looking for different things compare to desktop users and may access website many times vs. one single visit. To create a truly mobile-optimized experience you have to spend time on studying visitors' behavior and identify mobile website goals, thus developing a mobile website built on this knowledge and utilizing mobile-specific touch-based interface, but not simply replicating the desktop version.
0 comments:
Post a Comment