Mobile Phones - can people see you?

I was at a mother's night out group (keep reading, it's important) when they were talking about their iphones and what apps they use. Then someone said it..."I hate it when there is a flash website and then I can't see it." Then another mom chimed in, "if the site doesn't come up on my phone right, I just move on." Yep! People are losing business because they aren't thinking about their consumers. We don't want you to be that person. 

Here's the thing, more than 1/2 of searches on the internet are done on a smart phone! So here is what you need to know - 

• If you have a website built, you need to check how it functions on different browsers and different types of computers. This is why I love ZynnyMe because I use a Mac and Miranda uses a PC, so we get it covered. I use browsershots but there are a lot of free programs online to use.

• Flash - is it dead? Flash is used a lot on websites. I think it looks great, but it isn't always functional. Apple doesn't like it and favors HTML5. So this may sound like a bunch of mumbojumbo but just be aware, if you have a website in flash, it may not show up on someone's smartphone :) Read more about that in this cnet article. WIX is the new up and coming competitor for website design and it uses flash. It is great for a simple set up but you have limited control over the back end of the site and cannot change things like you can in squarespace.

• To combat the issue of visibility, WIX and other sites use a mobile website. Here's the thing, everyone is talking about having a mobile website. It looks cool to some on their smartphone and hopefully makes it easier for the person getting information. Do you need a mobile website? - Need it? - No. Sometimes they limit the amount of content and it can be frustrating to the user. Squarespace will soon be launching the ability to have this with their websites. It is cool but we haven't seen how it will generate more income. From a business perspective, we always want a good return on our investment. So you will probably see more from us on that as we test it out ourselves.

So when you design a website, you need to be thinking about your target audience. The average person spends no more than 15 seconds on a page and if they are having to weed through a ton of stuff to get the information they want (or if they can't see it because it is in flash) then they are going to move on to the next website, especially if this is on their phone.

I hear a lot of people say "my clients love my website." Well yes, they are seeing you, so sure, your website didn't turn them off. But what they don't know is that there are people that moved on and didn't call them for their services all because of their website. Of course they don't hear about those. So take a moment, look at your website on a smartphone....is it working? Would your ideal client call you? Can they read the words, see the important stuff? Don't lose business because of a crappy website! Access our FREE Websites for Therapists Checklist here!