Mobile and tablet usage is increasing significantly, with 11% of Americans now owning a tablet. Websites need to be optimized for mobile and tablet viewing to ensure a good user experience across all devices. When designing a website, developers should focus on fast load times, prioritized content, and support for multiple viewing platforms like HTML5, CSS, and responsive designs to accommodate the rise in mobile and tablet traffic. The Boston Globe and YouTube are examples of sites that are well optimized for different devices, while BestBuy and Kayak have more work to do to improve their mobile and tablet experience.
As you may know mobile and tablet usage has grown tremendously from a year or two ago. I’m sure you can see why Mobile usage has gone up 11% this year. You see hundreds and even thousands of people you see out during a day and at some point you will see them on their phone.
Tablets are also very popular with us. Around 18 months after the iPad came out 11% of Americans owned a tablet.. Mobile and tablet usage will steadily increase, but at a much slower rater because of data traffic. Tablets might be bigger than a mobile device, but it has more capabilities also. It has a larger screen so if a website doesn’t show well in a mobile device screen it will have better quality on a tablet. We will have to do some changes to your site to ensure that everything works well on a tablet.
Now, When we build up a website remember that you want people to view it on any device. Weather it be pc, mobile phone, or tablet you don’t want certain pictures or videos not showing up because of the device they are on. As you know mobile & tablet devices have a much smaller screen then a pc. When creating a site we try to ensure the best browsing possible for viewers. You don’t want people leaving your site because they can’t see about your product or see videos on how it works.
Though technology is still forming to make websites accessible on every type of device they aren’t doing to bad as of right now. A person being able to access your site from something other than a pc is already a good start. When working in CSS avoid setting width and pixels, this is called Fluid layout. Basically we can use what we are using now for a regular site viewed on a pc. The only difference is we have to carefully word things in HTML5 and CSS, we can also use XTHML and XML when designing sites for mobile devices and tablets.
There are millions of web sites out there that aren’t quiet up to speed with technology. I found YouTube a site that works very well on tablets & cell phones. I think almost anyone that uses the web has used YouTube for an answer to a question they had. Since there is text on YouTube it is primarily video, so since it works so well on phones & and tablets is great. I’m sure people who need to see things step by step or are visually better at doing things and can be right in front of what they are working on to work on it with a video love that YouTube has overcome the phone/tablet issue.
The Boston Globe is another site that works very well on tablets & mobile devices. This site is almost the complete opposite of YouTube. Not very many videos, but there is a lot to read. I know you might be thinking how small is the writing going to be?, will it hurt my eyes and give me headaches from straining trying to read? No, it probably will not. Because the Globe has redone their whole HTML5 and CSS design to make it so that their site will fit on any screen you choose to view them on.
One site we don’t want to be like when it comes to viewing on a mobile device or tablet is Best Buy. There site is so tough to navigate through especially on a mobile device. If their customer is on a tablet it’s not as bad, but if you want to shop Best Buy on your cell phone you need a lot of patience. One thing we can do to ensure that your page doesn’t look like Best Buys’ is you’ll have easy navigation. If you go to Best Buys’ site and click on something you want to buy you’re pretty much stuck on that page unless you put it in your shopping cart or return back to the main page.
Kayak might look like a website that works well with tablets and mobile devices. There is one problem though, but it’s actually a big deal. If you notice when you are on their site you can’t click on any links. This is a major down fall to someone using their tablet or phone. If you have links then more than likely you have more information on a product or service the viewer can read about. This is crucial if the user wants to read more on a product or maybe customer reviews but can’t because there is no link to click on. This can frustrate a viewer of your site and can possibly make them not visit your site anymore. Having links where links are needed is important.
I know there are ups and downs to having a website that is mobile and tablet ready. I do think that the positive gain you will have on your customers will be tremendous. It is a lot of work to make sure your site works with all devices, but one thing that you know for sure is that anyone on any device will be able to purchase what they need to purchase from where ever they might be at. Every business wants to keep their customers happy, also they want to keep their regular customers coming back because of what your site is providing them.
