Greetings, all!

With every day that passes, more of us (and more of our customers) carry computers around in our pants and purses in the form of a smart phone.

So, what’s the mobile experience of people coming to your website?

Do you have a different experience for mobile visitors? Or do you hope they just have an iphone and can stretch the page so they can read it?

What would be the OPTIMAL experience for your ideal customer on a smart phone or tablet, and how does that differ from the desktop experience?

What would you add, what would you leave off?

Or, are you currently not worried about your mobile presence because of your audience?

Obviously I’ve been thinking a lot about the mobile web experience lately, and wondering where you all are in your mobile evolution.

Let’s start the conversation!

@rich-brooks As I prepare my site for launch, I know the next step is paying to have a good mobile version, particularly for forms. If I capture the attention of someone on a mobile device, I want to make it easy for them to convert.  Another thing that I think it’s real important to optimize for mobile is your contact info and address and business hours, especially if you are bricks and mortar. 

The iPad and in general tablet sizes aren’t as much of an issue as the smartphones, which are too small for my comfort (and that of many others). But I also know lots of reading email and checking things out happens from smartphones when people are in a waiting mode–at the doctor, picking up kids from practice, carpool, etc, etc, etc. Because they have “free” time or might be bored, if I capture their interest in say an email, and they click on a link, I do want it to be a better experience for them.

While none of us wants to spend more money, it’s getting to be more and more important for many businesses. It might be the competitive move that is a game changer.

I think the latest stats now show more than 50% of mobile phone users have smart phones now.

@rich-brooks I was hoping to make our event site mobile but our CRM system, ClearVantage, was not compatible. It was also going to cost us a huge sum to add that module. Definitely make sure your systems are compatible in some fashion on the back end in order to capture the data and sales!

I put in a mobile website last year.  We are a John Deere Dealership in Central Washington.  The first thing I started with was phone numbers.  How to locate and call our 4 stores and our 13 Salesmen.  Next I added our inventory of Used Tractors, etc.  This was actually built by one of the sites where we place our inventory for online viewing…..I just had to link to it.  Then I’ve started added information such a GPs for tractors.  Everything has been designed specifically for the smartphone. You can see my site at m.eiijd.com.  I don’t have smartphone detection right now but haven’t seen any issues.  I’ve put the address on all our marketing materials and on our regular website.  I also us QR codes on many of our marketing pieces directing people to our smartphone inventory.  I’ve seen many QR codes out there that direct you to a regular website….now why on earth would you do that?

@rich-brooks   @dfriesland  @joanmuschampfagnani   @scottmadden   @kc_kreative  @jim-lodico   @trudyd1474  @vincentedwards | Every business owner needs to look at this for 2012. Many companies say they can create a mobile presence for you but they don’t deliver. We have created a system for the do it your-self business owner or marketing person. Do you Want to save time and money, need to do it on a budget. We have many examples, please DM me for clients that are using our system. It is not just a mobile app but it is a mobile site, that has many different modules you can select from. But don’t worry, we find out what you need and get the right modules in place so all you have to do is change it when you are ready to do so. Don’t pay money to other firms that will make the changes, save your money. However, with that said we also have a managed option. Not to mention it is also packed with SMS options and QR codes that you own. Each page that is built has a unique QR code attached, so if you offer or special changes, you can change from the back and and not re-print the codes.
PS we can set up a time that works best for you and then do a live demonstration to show you how ez it really is. N
Also I will have to look into the CRM clear advantage to see if we can help convert your mobile to integration with this.
Trudy, we already have a few major corporations going to do this for their entire systems and locations. We can make it very easy for you.
Thanks Rich for bringing this topic into the discussion board.I hope I can help in anyway.

I just launched my site in January (JulesWebb.com) and it’s built using Responsive Web Design, which uses @media queries for a fluid layout that adapts to the viewing environment. (same thing that @jim-lodico described above) Though there are some media devices that don’t yet recognize @media queries do cover the majority of mobile devices. My site is pretty basic so I didn’t have to leave out anything for mobile viewers.

I have two projects I just started that I’ll be using a responsive layout for as well. One is a content driven nutrition site with eCommerce and the other is a radio show that will do live pod-casting. 

Since I’m  doing a responsive design I need to make sure the page is light and will load fast on mobile devices. There may be some features that are not loaded or visible for mobile viewers but for the most part it’ll be the same but smaller.

@vincentedwards Okay, no problem if you need help in the future, just let me know.

I’ve been very happy with the WordPress mobile adaptation of my sites and client sites. I’ve not built a mobile-specific site yet.

@rich-brooks, About mobile visitors: I was reading the last issue from ebay and they say that in 2011 mobile sales on eBay reached $5 billion (I’m not sure the % that it represents for their total sales, but I’m sure it’s a big change). They also say that more than 56 million buyers have now downloaded eBay’s mobile shopping apps.

Using the MKT cap: location, location & location (location = go mobile.) 

Many thanks for this important thread
@rich-brooks @prestonodenbrett @juleswebb @joanmuschampfagnani @dfriesland

Does anyone have any suggestions or experience with adopting a mobile approach to a Joomla platform?

I was staggered this week to find that mobile visitors now account for more than 50% of our monthly traffic…and we are NOT mobile optimized. 

Not being a technical person maybe it may be easier just to set up a mobile optimized page with an opt-in or something similar.

Look forward to your suggestions. 

@prestonodenbrett Many thanks. I like the idea of visitors being automatically forwarded to a mobile friendly site but I just wonder if I have the skills to set all this up or is this was you are offering to do? Love to see a demo.