Posted by: Israel Martinez
10/20/2011 11:40 AM
6 Steps to a Successful Smartphone Website (part 2 / 7)
As discussed in my previous blog, this is part of a blog series that will guide you from the planning phase to the execution and evolution of your smartphone website
Step 1 - Define Your Goal
With all the tools available in the market, almost anyone can build a website. But building a *successful* website – is another story. Some of the literature states that 90% of the websites fail before they start. You know the saying: no one plans to fail but many fail to plan.
In the case of a business smartphone website, making money or saving money are the main motivators for creating a site. Business owners need to ask themselves the question: how can my business capitalize from the mobile web?
Some possible answers are:
· By generating sales leads
· By selling a product or service online
· By informing visitors about my products and services, and telling them where to buy them
· By reducing support calls
· By providing the location and a map of my business
If you already have a desktop website, you’re probably wondering if the goals of your websites should be the same. Unfortunately, this question needs to be answered by every business. In some cases both websites will have the same goal(s), in others there will be some overlap, and in others the goals will be completely different. And the factor that influences the decision is the context – in the mobile web, context is the king. For example, one of the goals of www.dotnetnuke.com is to provide our users with a PE Trial Package, but that goal does not apply in the context of a smartphone website.
In the case of the PE Trial, it is the hardware that defines whether the goal applies or not, and the decision is easy. In other cases, it is more difficult to identify the goals that do not apply because the deciding factor will be the duration of the session or the location of the user. For example, are your goals applicable to a user that is standing in line at the grocery store, or someone in between meetings?
You have to think hard, but once you have answered the question, you’ll also know the primary action(s) you want your visitors to do in your site. Some examples are:
· Contact you
· Buy your products or services
· Successfully use an online tool
As mentioned above, your goal is the reason for your website to exist. And by clearly defining the action(s) you want you visitors to do, you’ll be significantly closer to building a successful smartphone website.
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