Sitting down and drawing up a mobile content strategy from scratch is no mean feat. Adapting and perhaps even re-creating your website and other online content for smartphone and tablet users requires a great deal of consideration, planning and expert help.
Here are some tips to help you develop a watertight mobile content strategy, while avoiding some of the common pitfalls affecting brands in the same boat as you…
- Don’t take information away from mobile users – serialise instead. A common mistake brands make when optimising their websites for mobile is to simply cut out whole chunks of information, removing pages and dramatically simplifying information and content. Mobile users can handle lots of information – after all, the smartphone is now the most commonly used device upon which to browse the internet. Instead of removing information, which could annoy and put off your users, break it down into more manageable chunks instead. This is called creating ‘snackable’ content, serialising valuable information to make it easier for mobile users to digest.
- Boost the visual appeal. The visual is so important on mobile-optimised websites, and it works in a slightly different way to designing a site to be accessed on a larger computer screen. The layout, appeal and interactivity of visual elements needs to be carefully considered with the needs of the mobile user in mind. Text still matters of course, but it should be more concise than ever and the overall look sleek, intuitive and a doddle to use.
- Make it snappy. If it’s possible, mobile users are even more impatient than ordinary web users. They’re accessing your mobile-friendly website for a specific purpose – to make a purchase or to find information. If they can’t find it or the user experience (UX) is too slow, they’ll be gone in a flash. Streamline the user journey to make your site as user-friendly as possible, and watch out for off-putting issues such as slow loading pages and broken links. Making the UX as snappy as possible is absolutely crucial to the success of any mobile content strategy.
- Make use of the platform to personalise. Personalisation is the key to success with most forms of online content marketing, from emails to optimising for mobile. There are lots of ways to do it, but a great deal of support comes from the nature of the mobile platform itself. Location information, interconnected apps and behavioural data – these are all feeding you the information you need to deliver a personalised UX. Responsive design may take a bit of time to perfect, but it’s well worth it in a world where users will simply tap away if content isn’t relevant to them.
Have you successfully re-designed and optimised your website for mobile – if so, what did you find were the biggest hurdles to overcome? What would you advise other brands to avoid in terms of rookie mistakes? Please feel free to share your thoughts.
