It is the dawn of the mobile age. Your competitor has created a nifty new website that is actually viewable on his phone (and depressingly just as well on your phone and EVERYONE elses). You decided it's time to make the investment and so are wondering, ok now that I have decided to have WebStrategies build me my Mobile Website, what might be considered some of the most important factors to consider when creating such a mobile site?

1) Your mobile site shouldn’t be a mini replica of your desktop site.
It is very tempting to basically drag every bit of content from your existing desktop site over to your mobile site - don't do it. Just as your phone is physically smaller than that behemoth of a monitor sitting in your office, so should the information contained therein. Think "brief" when building your mobile site.

2) Get to the point - to the heart of what you want your customer to know.
If you consider most users don’t have the patience to play for a long period of time on a tiny screen, also consider what you want them to quickly find on your mobile site in that short period of time. Make sure that the core purpose for having your website, or even business for that matter is obvious and front and center on your mobile site. To some degree you have a little more flexibility in terms of what you present first on your desktop website - in mobile hit the user with the most important content first and foremost. If you think about it, in most cases the customer may already know who and what you are and as such - the most important piece of information in this context? Your PHONE NUMBER! Think "concise".

3) Make it snappy!
Generally speaking if you stick to the first 2 key features of a mobile site, that is being brief and concise then the third important feature should come naturally – speed. 9 out of 10 users expect to be able to find information from your site in a matter of seconds. Think "fast"!

4) Make sure you need a mobile site and not an app.
For many reasons, if thinking about building an eCommerce solution or something perhaps more complex, your client might be better off building mobile app not website.

5) Now is the time to move.
If the future of information and communications is on portable devices shouldn’t you consider getting a head start?

David McKillen WebStrategies Inc.