Understanding Your Mobile Audience

As mobile web usage continues to grow rapidly, it’s important to make sure that your site is optimized for mobile devices and the people using them. This involves understanding your audience and what they want from your site while on-the-go.

Examples might include:

• The ability to quickly check your balance on a banking website
• The power to check-in to your flight through an airline site
• Finding the daily specials from a local restaurant site when deciding where to eat

In each of these examples, a wise business must prioritize what content is especially relevant to a mobile user and then present that information or functionality in a simple, convenient and accessible way.

Let’s look at 2 specific examples on both ends of the spectrum:

Toyota: A virtual salesperson at your fingertips

Toyota has a great example of a mobile site. The content is highly-optimized, interactive and genuinely helpful.  I can see specs, pricing, colors and more—it’s like having a virtual salesperson with me as I walk around the lot, minus the sometimes overbearing pressure to upgrade my warranty.

Bojangles: A missed opportunity

When you’re out on the road and a “gotta-wanna-needa-hava” moment hits, bojangles.com is of little help.  Instead of an optimized site with a store finder or even an 800 number, you’ll only find paragraphs of text outlining the history of the company and descriptions of the delicious food that they’re not helping you find.

Conclusion

Don’t miss your opportunity to reach mobile web users. These are often point-of-purchase interactions that can lead directly to sales, a better customer experience, or both. As we did when designing the mobile version of our own site, seek to understand your mobile audience and then optimize your site for them. And if you need a hand, let me know. We can help!

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Related posts:

• Designing for the mobile web
• 3 ways to target mobile devices