The Great Debate – Optimizing Tablets, Smart Phones and Sites
The Great Debate – Optimizing Tablets, Smart Phones and Sites
Once upon a time website optimization was the only concern of most online marketing firms. Adding a few meta-tags, selecting appropriate keywords and tweaking a bit of code pretty well covered the needs of most small business owners. Today all that has changed.
While the idea of optimizing a website isn’t new, a surprising number of social media consulting agencies still miss the mark when it comes to tablets, smart phones and other mobile devices. It’s an oversight with potentially devastating consequences given the exponential growth of emerging technology. Desktops and their smaller counterpart – laptops, once ruled the Internet but with the growth of cell phones followed by tablets, mobile marketing is rapidly replacing traditional websites. With that change comes the need for new methods of optimizing as well as an understanding of how each device is used.
One Size Does NOT Fit All Situations
The first thing to understand is that one size does not fit every site situation. Many small business owners simply assume they can recreate a traditional website in a smaller version for viewing on mobile devices but recent research demonstrates the futility of that premise. People increasingly own more than one device type and use it in different ways, in different places for viewing different types of content. Understanding how, when and where each device is used will provide valuable insight into proper optimizing strategies.
Tablets – This is the year that tablets are really taking off; one of the hottest electronic devices of the shopping season, tablets are moving into the mainstream and now account for the third most popular method of access online content. However, tablets tend to stay home unlike cell phones that go everywhere. In order of importance, tablet owners use their device to perform the following:
1. Access email (usually while watching television or eating)
2. Listen to music (typically while cooking or talking with others)
3. Play games (while waiting or watching television)
4. interact via social media sites (while watching television or eating)
Cell Phones – Unlike tablets which typically are used at home, cell phones are used everywhere in place of…rather than in addition to…other forms of access to the Internet. Cell phone users want specific information in a fast, easy to access method with a focus on outcome. Cell phone users tend to “do” something with the information such as get directions, compare prices, obtain contact information or read a review. Emphasis should be on ease of use, function and desired outcome versus interaction and enhanced viewing experience like that of the tablet.
Bottom line – understanding when, how and why each device is used will make your site as user-friendly as possible for each different device.
Mike McLaughlin
Maximize Social Media, LLC
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