FOCUS ON SIMPLICITY FOR DYNAMIC MOBILE CONTENT CREATION
2013 was a tipping point for mobile content and marketing, and the numbers are staggering. Over 65% of Americans own a smartphone, up from 44% in 2011. Some 1.75 billion people will use a smartphone in 2014, and 2.3 billion people will go online via smartphone at some point this year. From a business perspective, 70% of mobile online searches lead to some action within an hour. Bank robber Willie Sutton is credited as saying he robbed banks because “that’s where the money is”. Likewise, your company wants to optimize the mobile experience because that’s where the users are today, and mobile content creation is where the users will be in the coming years.
Creating a seamless experience for users through mobile content creation is your site’s goal. We break down four key ways below:
FOCUS ON THE MOBILE EXPERIENCE
Traditionally, the acronym “K.I.S.S.” stands for “Keep it simple, stupid”. But when it comes to mobile, it should stand for “Keep it short and simple”. The biggest theme for creating a good experience for mobile users is simplicity. That, and your navigation must work.
It’s obvious to say that reading something on a smartphone is different than a laptop. Creating mobile content is both a paradigm shift and a mindset. The previous strategy of pairing down a website to fit the smartphone screen no longer works; you must focus on building a mobile experience on its own.
INCREASE THE SPEED BY REDUCING IMAGES
A speedy site goes hand in hand with simplicity, and the numbers bear repeating. 60% of mobile users expect sites to load within 3 seconds, while 74% of users will leave a site that doesn’t load within 5 seconds.
One significant way to reduce a site’s loading speed is to reduce the size of, or completely take away images from the page. While we previously discussed the importance of using visual content for social media, remember that the user experience for mobile devices is different. Speed and simplicity are king.
ORGANIZE THE FORMAT
Writing gripping and engaging headlines is essential, and even more so in mobile content creation. Your audience is always scrolling, so make sure that your content is quick and to the point. In addition, lay your content out in a way that gives customers a seamless experience. This means a focus on clarity and organization. Make your buttons “finger friendly”. Use bullet points to divide topics. Change font sizes. Make it as easy as possible for users to skim your content, while retaining the important details
DO NOT USE FLASH
Flash is incompatible with mobile. Skip it, for now.
Mobile content creation is spoken of in terms of the future, of how companies and businesses should focus their content towards the smartphone. Yet if your business isn’t optimizing the mobile experience today, you’re too late. Nearly 50% of users who have a bad experience with a mobile site will not return in the future. Needless to say, those are potential customers you’ve already lost. But with a focus on simplicity and a seamless experience, your site will have people interacting with their smartphones in no time.
