Is It Time for a Mobile Website?
GlynnDevins is building senior living mobile websites and launching senior living mobile apps. And we believe 2011 may well be the tipping point in terms of mobile communication.
Take a look at these powerful mobile statistics released in June 2011 by
Space 150, a digital agency:
- Mobile is growing faster than any technology before it.
- We no longer have to be tethered to a desktop computer to connect to the Internet and interact with the world around us.
- By the end of 2011, more Americans will have smartphones than feature phones.
- In June 2011, 91% of Americans had mobile phones. By the end of 2011, 50% of Americans will have a smartphone.
- By 2014, mobile will be the most common way of accessing the Internet.
It’s hard to deny that mobile is going to revolutionize the way we interact with adult child influencers today, and probably with our senior prospects in the not-too-distant future.
Here’s a test for you: Grab your smartphone and pull up your community website on it. How does it look? Can you read it? Is the content relevant for the adult child? If not, it might be time to start thinking about a mobile website. This strategy is a bit different and includes streamlined, pertinent information for the user.
Starting in 2012 (or before!) every digital discussion we have with our senior living clients will include our thoughts on a mobile strategy, both related to mobile websites and mobile search tactics senior living communities should consider.
We recently launched a mobile website for Somerby of Alpharetta. Check it out on your smartphone: http://www.somerbyofalpharetta.com/ (Reminder: The mobile website will only show up on your mobile device. If you click on this link on your laptop, desktop or tablet, it will default to the standard marketing website.)
What do you think of the Somerby of Alpharetta mobile website? And how did your site look on your smartphone?
The Somerby m.website looks wonderful on an iPhone. It’s got an excellent balance of convenience and information. The icons are crisp and easily identifiable.
The only quirk, I think, is the abridged FAQs. These left the EF vs buy-in Q&A feeling very incomplete. On the full site the FAQs make the distinction between EF vs buy-in and then answer succinctly, “Does Somerby have an entry fee or buy-in?
No. Somerby only requires a one time community fee of one thousand dollars ($1000).” To me, that’s a statement worth making, even on a mobile device.
As for the question of how our community’s site appears on a mobile device…no comment.
A question for you: How are users primary navigating to mobile sites like this? Is traffic direct, referral or organic?
Hi Eric, thanks for your comments and praise for the new Somerby of Alpharetta mobile site. Interesting that you bring up the FAQ’s as that was an area of discussion for the writer that worked on this and our user experience team. There is definitely a delicate balance we must strike with mobile communication in terms of how much content is the right amount. Our plan is to continue to study the analytics behind each section to see which content performs best. As you know, the beauty of digital is the ability to test and measure and then apply our learnings accordingly.
In terms of your question regarding how are users primarily navigating to mobile sites-we believe that mobile users are normally searching and/or reading email on their mobile devices. Therefore we believe that search pushes a great amount of traffic to the mobile sites and links from emails also direct users to our mobile sites.
If you have more questions, feel free to give me a call, I would love to continue this dialogue with you. 913-491-0600, ext. 181.
Earlier this year, we recognized the need to develop a user-friendly mobile site, due to the increase in mobile users we were seeing in our statistics. We launched an iPhone App in the first quarter, but we continued to hear & see a need from Android and other mobile users, so we recently launched a mobile site that works for all smart phones (http://m.newlifestyles.com). The mobile site has made searching & ordering much easier, thus increasing our completions.
I recommend that clients review their statistics before endeavoring to create a mobile site or App. It’s important to be on top of trends, but make sure you have the data to support the need & expenditure!