McRoskey Mattress realized that an increasing number of visitors were accessing McRoskey.com using a mobile device.
This is particularly true for visitors clicking through from McRoskey’s monthly email. When accessing McRoskey.com on their mobile phones,visitors saw small type and hard-to-read navigation (see image to the right).
To fix the problem, Placemaking Group added a mobile page to link to the featured promotion in McRoskey’s monthly email. iPhone users are automatically routed to the mobile version. Navigation is easy to see and with a quick scroll down, they can view photos and get pertinent details.
A mobile version was also made for the Contact Us page.
Read more about McRoskey Mattress Company.
Consider these 4 tips when adding mobile functionality to your website:
1. By 2013 more people will access the Internet via a mobile device than their computer. During Christmas 2009, 51% of consumers made buying decisions from mobile devices.
2. Check your website statistics. If more than 10% of your visitors are using a mobile device to access your site, determine what they are looking for and set up a mobile page that covers that information.
3. Mobile is different. Customizing content for the mobile user is more than just shrinking a website page. Mobile users want something different than computer users. They want something immediately actionable: a phone number, email address or a website search area. They don’t want to read a lot about the company or product. Keep it simple, both in content and design.
4. What works best in mobile? Special offers, coupons, a special event, new product announcement, a contact page or a search page.
To discuss adding mobile capabilities to your website, just email us.
Further reading about web development on our blog:
- Don’t just redesign your website, design a new experience
- Images are key to connecting with your audience
- Moving web site responsibilities from IT to Communications
Tags: iPhone, mcroskey, mobile web sites, tips for using mobile
I think it is great that McRoskey fixed this problem– I personally have internet on my mobile phone and it is really irritating when the website is not in “mobile-friendly version.” It seems like it wouldn’t be that big of deal, but little things like that can make a consumer navigate away from your page instead of staying on to look at more or read your e-mail updates. I definitely think that if it is a relatively easy fix for a company to make, it should do so as soon as possible to reduce the frustration of their mobile viewers.
I recently consulted with a business person who had international dealings. A friend referred him to me, and we chatted first over the phone. (I was traveling and working from a Blackberry.) He sent me a text containing the link to his site, which not only did not load to my mobile device but gave an error message that made me question there was a site there at all. When I got to my laptop and visited his site, the home page to his Web site consisted of one of those abstract, conceptual images with no words. Visitors had to float the mouse around the page even to find a place to enter.
His bad judgments about the site were job security for me! Even so, I found myself irritated. I can only imagine how his customers, suppliers, and colleagues feel when they try to get into the site.
I think that with the direction that technology is moving right now, there is no turning back from the onset of increased use of the web on mobile devices like cell phones. More and more people are going to get the internet on their cell phones – there’s no avoiding it! Companies need to cater to the needs and wants of their customers, so any company that has a lot of users browsing the web or checking their email on the go needs to have a mobile version of their site so that it’s more user-friendly. I agree with Gina that it’s really annoying when I’m using my cell phone to go on the internet and a website just doesn’t look right on my phone because they don’t have a mobile version of the site! It’s important to keep customers on your page, so companies really should listen up to what they want to see on these mobile sites! The idea of coupons and special offers that this post talks about is perfect for this!
Great point! I use my iPhone to access the internet more often than my computer and I am constantly finding websites that are not mobile device friendly. I am surprised that all websites have not navigated to mobile versions yet. As Gina mentioned, when I access a website that was not designed to be viewed from a mobile device, I find it easier to move on and browse other things rather than to try to zoom in and out to attempt to read TINY font and scroll back and forth across my screen to navigate all sections of the web page.
I think it is very important for companies to stay up-to-date with the technology. I think the next step for McRoskey’s is develop an app. Which connects all McRoskey’s internet website, social media, and Twitter. The app could also have an interactive part that shows how the mattress is made all on the mobile phone. McRoskey’s may not be the best example, but mobile phone apps are very important to create loyal customers.
It is truly remarkable just how drastically technology has impacted all of our lives. There is no escaping this reality and companies do need to realize this and allow their sites to be more easily accessible for mobile phone users. These days, everyone is constantly on the go and using a mobile device is usually the only way we can stay connected to these products. Sad, but true.
Access to the internet is almost universal now, but people aren’t walking around with their laptops in hand. Nearly every cell phone has internet capabilities so if a company can make their site mobil-friendly, their expansion is jumps from just people with internet access to people with cell phones with internet access as well. I think it’s great that McRoskey’s has the awareness to fix this. People want the immediate answer to their questions and concerns, whether it’s a question on mattress availability or finding out who won the Giants game, they want to find the answers on their phone especially when they are on the go.
It’s so crazy to realize how so many people are accessing business websites through their mobile devices Because of this, there is an increased urgency for companies to change their technological assets to completely cater to these type of devices. It’s a huge advantage and in the company’s best interest to cater their website to mobile devices such as the iPhone, so I think this article is especially important. The 4 tips depicted above are great for any business person to read and highly consider for the success of their business.
i personally find it helpful to log into the internet from my phone when i’m on the go. When something on it doesn’t work it gets so frustrating but when i need to make something quick and easy its great. having those apps on the phone is so much easier =)
That was a great improvement made by Placemaking Group! I get really frustrated when I check out sights on my phone and its hard to navigate. Due to the level of competition in that industry, it is very important for their web sight to be user friendly.
Great Job Placemaking Group! Everyone is constantly on their cell phones, checking emails, websites, and looking up directions, etc. that it is almost vital to make sure people can access a website through their cell phone. Technology continues to grow and companies must make sure they are keeping up with the latest changes if they want to be marketable and successful.
People find it quick and easy to check the web through their mobiles so they want content that is concise and different from a computer. The four tips mentioned are definitely beneficial for a company looking to go mobile.
Smart phones are great way for the consumer market to navigate the internet on the go, and I would agree there is nothing more frustrating than trying to go to a website and it not working. Companies need to update their websites in order to keep up with technology and competition. It is great that The Placemaking Group took time to fix the problem for McRoskey.
I definitely agree that companies should create cell phone compatible websites- I do not own an iphone so it is hard enough to find websites that simply work on my phone’s internet. Thus, I am so grateful for Bank of America’s mobile website because it is the easiest to access- unlike the majority of ‘mobile’ websites.