This is an extract from the free eBook "The Two Big Rules for a smartphone-friendly website". The first eBook in the Instant Mobile Sites series helps you see why regular websites don't work on mobile devices, even if they look reasonable at first glance. Get the full eBook for free immediately at: http://www.consected.com/mobile-sites-free-ebook

1. Instant Mobile Sites
The Two Big Rules for a smartphone-friendly website
(an extract from)
Mobile Websites
The Two Big Rules for a smartphone-friendly website
See how new customers can find you
Help current customers find out more about you
Learn why it is not just about the “size of your screen”
Phil Ayres
Consected LLC
Consected Instant Mobile Sites eBook Series
Copyright 2011 – Consected LLC
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www.consected.com/2bigrules mobilesites@consected.com US (617) 500-8195
UK +44 (0)20 8123 4064

2. Instant Mobile Sites
The Two Big Rules for a smartphone-friendly website
What is a Mobile Website, and why do I need it?
Open up a regular website on a smartphone such as an iPhone, Android or similar device.
As a view from 30,000 feet it looks fine, but your fingers are suddenly fatter than almost
anything on the screen. You can't read the text or hit the links. And because you aren't
sitting at a desk, idly browsing, your behavior is different. You are mobile and you want
something, right now!
To satisfy smartphone users, mobile websites have to follow these Two Big Rules:
1. deliver pages that are easy to use on a small screen
2. provide the information visitors actually need
Remember one and forget the other and you are just going to frustrate potential
customers trying to find your information. Unfortunately many mobile website design
services only focus on looking good on a smartphone screen and completely forget that
the quality, order and content of information must also be mobile-friendly.
What type of If you run a business with a location that customers visit it
businesses need a is essential that you have a real mobile-optimized website
mobile website? so new customers can find you. In this first eBook in the
Instant Mobile Sites series I am offering some valuable
information to small- and mid-sized businesses that still
Retailers wonder why they need a mobile website. This information
Taxi & car is based on best practices I have gained working with big
services corporates, combined my own experience of what works
as the owner of a small business.
Car dealers
Real estate With only Two Big Rules to follow, building a valuable
agents mobile website can be surprisingly easy, and with the
Beauty salons right tools you shouldn't need deep technical skills. So
keep reading to find out how you can meet the needs of
Restaurants smartphone visitors, with a mobile website that is:
Hotels & lodging
• easy to use
Farmers markets
• delivers the information visitors need
Medical centers
• keeps user engaged
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UK +44 (0)20 8123 4064

3. Instant Mobile Sites
The Two Big Rules for a smartphone-friendly website
Mobile Sites don't just look different,
they are different
Some companies believe that you can just take your
current website and reorganize the pages a little for a
mobile device. There are online services that offer to
convert your website automatically. They take all the
menus, boxes and text, and organize them as a vertical
stack of blocks. In our own tests we were initially quite
impressed. But when we actually tried to find the useful
information on the pages, it was hidden in a mass of
unnecessary icons and unusable menus.
Observing the way smartphone users work with
websites, we have learned that in great mobile websites:
Before: a regular real-estate
1. Important information must appear first agent website. Not usable
People use mobile devices when they are on the unfortunately.
go. They need information, not marketing fluff.
2. No Flash banners
They just don't work.
3. Split it up into microsites
Break your site up. Nobody is going to browse it
all, so make the navigation easier to use.
4. Use QR Codes
If you want visitors to get more value from printed
advertising, don't make them type the URL.
5. A call to action your visitors can act on
Marketing 101 maybe, but it is even more
important for mobile websites.
Follow these guidelines and visitors will be drawn in to
the simple to use pages, and find the information they
need easily. In this eBook we are going to focus on the
first one – Important Information. We'll take some
time to look at the rest of the guidelines in the follow-up Automatically 'mobilized':
eBooks in the Instant Mobile Sites series. Produces 6 more screens of
pictures and no useful content.
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www.consected.com/2bigrules mobilesites@consected.com US (617) 500-8195
UK +44 (0)20 8123 4064

4. Instant Mobile Sites
The Two Big Rules for a smartphone-friendly website
Don't forget the Important information must appear first
Two Big Rules
This is one thing that no software can automate. You must
how consider how people are using your mobile website and
what they want to know. You will almost certainly find that
deliver pages that this is different from the information people seek on your
are easy to use on regular website and how they use it.
a small screen
People are visiting your mobile website for one of three
what reasons:
provide the
information users
actually need 1. they are on the move and need to find details like
your address, opening hours or special offers
2. they are quickly searching to find businesses in the
area that offer what they need
3. they are bored while they wait for friends, or watching
TV, and looking for something that catches their eye
So let's talk about each of the three types of mobile user.
Although their priorities are different, they have common
needs. By addressing all three types, we can produce a
mobile website that provides the right information and
feels comfortable to use.
People on the move who want your
information
Mobile users who are on the move and know what they
want to find have short attention-spans and low tolerance
for marketing fluff. To appeal to these visitors, a truly
mobile-optimized website significantly reduces the amount
Which do you think is of text and unnecessary clutter on the screen. It may look
more useful to a mobile basic and rudimentary on a big screen, but on a
visitor? Marketing fluff, or
smartphone the pages are clear, clean and deliver the
information about your
location? information a visitor needs at a glance.
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www.consected.com/2bigrules mobilesites@consected.com US (617) 500-8195
UK +44 (0)20 8123 4064

5. Instant Mobile Sites
The Two Big Rules for a smartphone-friendly website
This was an extract from the eBook
“The Two Big Rules for a smartphone-friendly website”
Get your copy of the full eBook for free immediately, and sign up to receive the other
eBooks in the free series. Click http://www.consected.com/mobile-sites-free-ebook
Please share this eBook with friends!
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www.consected.com/2bigrules mobilesites@consected.com US (617) 500-8195
UK +44 (0)20 8123 4064