Photo by Flickr user Xraijs

It feels like it’s on the forefront of everyone’s mind these days – how to engage visitors on your website while they’re using mobile devices. Apps are no longer limited to games, note-taking, to-do lists or email, but are being embraced by more and more companies as a way to communicate with customers while on the go. But, there are other options to consider when looking to go mobile that are not only more economical, but make better sense for the small- to medium-sized company looking to increase brand recognition and awareness.

Apps are king, but are they overkill?

True, as Jakob Nielsen writes, downloadable apps are currently king when it comes to offering the best user experience to your mobile visitors. Functionality is better integrated with the capabilities of the device, and other components (such as the camera) can be integrated into the user experience. However, apps are expensive. They require research and time to make the same experience available to all users. More than that, they require developing the same app in multiple formats to be available to iPhone users, Android users, Blackberry users, etc.

Even further, apps require maintenance. Android alone has multiple “active” versions of their operating system being run by users at the same time, just across current phone models. Testing must be done to ensure the best possible user experience isn’t being hindered by an incompatibility with the majority of users. And, to top it all off, users must be proactive in both downloading (and potentially purchasing) your application and allowing maintenance updates to be installed.

It’s an investment on a completely different level to create a mobile app, and an inappropriate one for most companies looking to just make their content available to mobile users. I tend to agree with this factsheet that apps are best served to companies who need to provide an online tool or service (such as e-commerce) as opposed to every company seeking to optimize their existing web presence.

So, what’s best for the rest of you just looking to “be there” for users browsing the mobile web?

The short answer, from where I sit, is a mobile-optimized website. But still, there are a couple of options to consider before building one.

As is always my suggestion for any website – be it mobile or not – there should be a specific action you want your visitors to take once they are on your site. The content that you put on the site should help users achieve this goal.

Most websites have anywhere from one to a small handful of acceptable actions they want users to take before clicking away or closing their browser window, but do all of those actions translate to the mobile audience? I tend to think not for the average small- to mid-sized company website.

Responsive and adaptive web design are terms being thrown around the industry as the hottest new thing for designers and developers to be able to do. Both of these approaches take your existing website and make it flexible so that the information is better displayed and easier to read on the smaller screens of mobile devices. While this is a fantastic tool in some cases and definitely a neat trick in others (depending on the content of the website), for the small- to mid-sized business it can muddy the waters for the mobile user and make the expected action less clear, particularly if it is the only approach employed to make a site mobile-friendly.

When creating a mobile site for our client, Haddock Collision, we used an automatically-detected mobile version of the site that was then optimized using the adaptive approach to allow additional content to be displayed or hidden at certain screen widths. This way, content would flow better for horizontally- and vertically-oriented devices.

How so? The bottom line is, these companies want customers and potential customers to make contact with them, either through a phone call or by filling out an email form. Regardless of if they also want to capture leads through other means such as whitepapers or by signing up for a newsletter, this is the hands-down end result that many companies we meet with want from their site visitors.

For the mobile audience of these companies with a standard “brochure” website, truncating the content to include basic About information, locations and a clickable phone number is what we tend to recommend as the best means of communicating with the mobile audience.

It’s simple, but effectively makes use of three key components of the mobile device:

1. Small screen real estate
2. The ability to make phone calls
3. GPS or, at the very least, mapping applications installed on the device

Studies have shown that presenting a user with too many options can actually scare them into doing nothing or, at the very least, hinder their ability to make a decision quickly. By limiting the options on the initial mobile homepage, it because abundantly clear to users quickly if they have found what they are looking for and to take action. For those that need more information, the option is always present to view the “full site” on their mobile device, where the same actions are still clearly available to them.

Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all solution that we turn to on the web, and each website’s needs are individually evaluated before we make a cut and dry recommendation. In general, however, the Strategic Insights’ approach to mobile falls in line with what Jakob Nielsen predicts will be the way of the future: a simple, functional mobile website is the way to go.

 Jennifer Soloway [follow me on Twitter] // Senior Art Director // Strategic Insights

Web designers have one audience in mind when beginning a new web project. No, I’m not talking about our clients (sorry, guys).

I mean the end user. The person who will sit on the “other side of the screen,” clicking through the information presented. It’s common sense that the end result should match up with the expectations that user has come to expect from the brand, experiences on similar websites, and experience with the web as a whole.

This does not mean that every website across the internet is expected to perform exactly the same. It is a statement, however, that every website that falls into a certain category (e-commerce, banking, forum, etc.) should function similarly to other sites within the same category. Users would not expect a banking site to behave as a forum, and vice-versa.

The best way to determine what users are expecting out of a website is to research. Research sites with a similar function, competitor sites, and the existing company’s site if the project is a relaunch.

But, what if what we WANT is to change user behavior on a website?

First and foremost, understand that there’s a delicate balance that needs to be achieved when changing user behaviors. Nothing is keeping your users from leaving the site if they become frustrated or don’t understand what actions are expected of them. With that said, it is possible to change user behavior provided there is sound reasoning, obvious visual clues and response mechanisms, and a sense of familiarity left intact.

My favorite go-to inspiration for changing user behavior while remaining sensitive to expectations is product design.

“Green” products are changing consumer behavior. Or, trying to.

There’s no denying that in this day and age, it’s hip to be green. It also goes without saying that “going green” is often associated with making personal sacrifices in daily habits and choices. What, give up my morning Starbucks in favor of making coffee at home? Suddenly, it’s a lot more appealing to leave “being hip” to the hipsters and tree-huggers.

Green-conscious product designers are rising to that challenge by designing reusable products that mimic their disposable counterparts in look and feel. The only differences lie in the materials used to make them (glass and porcelain vs. plastic and paper) and the fact that they don’t get chucked in the bin after only one use. Even better, these newer products are built for the dishwasher, unlike the hard plastic coffee mugs of yore (if you read them, most should be hand-washed for durability; but who does that?).

In other words, they’re putting the effort into the design to make switching to reusable, “greener” choices as easy for the consumer as getting a cup or bottle on the go.

Google made the submit button obsolete.

An on-screen example of a behavior shift is evident in Google’s 2010 redesign. The biggest, yet still subtle, difference the search company made was to remove the need to hit ‘Submit’ in order to show search results. Results are now live-updated as you type, actually eliminating a step previously needed to be performed by the user.

To be honest, I needed the change to be pointed out to me before I realized anything was different. This is exactly what you want in a behavior shift – for users to not even realize it’s happening. Users expect search results to arrive quickly, and the live-updating of results is a logical improvement in functionality.

Make it easy, make it obvious.

In the end, the key to changing user (or consumer) behavior is in making the difference obvious and convenient. Users are not going to change if it requires them to make the extra effort, or is noticeably different from what they are used to.

It is possible to change user behavior, while keeping them happy by meeting their expectations. It’s all about researching the audience and finding what works naturally.

Jennifer Soloway [follow me on Twitter] // Senior Art Director // Strategic Insights

Therefore, it was only fitting when client Eaton Corporation, known worldwide for their power management solutions, asked the agency to develop a contest website to promote the concept of “Efficient Uptime” to its partners. Efficient Uptime has been a theme of Eaton’s for a while now—this was the next step in engaging the partners to become part of the message.

“The goal is two-fold,” says Eaton Global IT Manager Brooke Lang. “The Efficient Uptime contest not only reinforces our campaign message, it also encourages partners to share best practices with one another by documenting their success stories for everyone to see. We’re extremely excited about it.”

To enter the contest, a partner must describe what Efficient Uptime means to them and how they have delivered it for a customer, including the environmental and cost savings achieved. Not surprisingly, bonus points are given for stories that include Eaton Solutions. Stories may consist of documents, presentations, pictures and videos. Eaton will choose two winners who will receive $2500 each.

“It’s really more of a microsite,” explains Associate Creative Director Chris Griffin, “which is not to diminish its importance, but better describes its focus: it’s a website with one purpose. Over the course of three tabs, which serve as sub-pages, visitors can get an overview of the contest, its rules and can upload their materials right then and there.” Partners can then choose to direct judges to a URL or upload content, or a combination of both.

Eaton plans on promoting the contest through email blasts, through its distributors, an online campaign conducted by Everything Channel and through its partner portal, also created by Strategic Insights.

Of the portal, Lang comments, “We’ve seen great results so far. Since its launch, we’ve grabbed an additional share and a half, and have outgrown the rest of the market pretty significantly.”

I think most people aren’t getting the point of Google Buzz. Yes, right now it may seem annoying because everything is just popping up. People are asking “Doesn’t _______ already do this?”

The answer is yes, but what Buzz does do that nothing else does is aggregate everything together AND allow you to pick what you see.

With Twitter and Facebook, you get everything with no filters (aside from Twitter Lists). Google Buzz learns what you like and don’t like. After a while, even though everyone’s posts are constantly updated, you only get things you find relevant. So, Twitter, RSS, and other posts are made visible to you ONLY if you actually find them relevant.

Furthermore, the innovation of Google Buzz will drive other social networks to better organize content within their platforms. I believe that it is still overwhelming right now. That’s why “non-techies” view it as a time waster. Once there is an easier way to sift through the noise, I believe social networking and content sharing will boom with other audiences.

Will Google Buzz stick around? Probably not or at least not in its current state. Will it make a difference? At the very least, we will know what NOT to do.

What are your thoughts on Google Buzz?

Josh Gibbs (@jkgibbs) // Social Media Consultant // Strategic Insights

Often times clients come to us and say they want their website to be "search engine optimized". The site in question may have a lot of flash elements or image based text or bad markup. Which usually prompts me to give my long-winded spiel about how they might want to make their site "search engine friendly" first. This almost always raises the question, aren’t they the same thing? No, making a site SEF is not the same thing as optimizing a site for search engine performance.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. SEO is typically a long-term task that normally involves an ongoing commitment or contract carried out in the form of an "SEO Campaign".

A site is Search Engine Friendly (SEF) when its design, coding, menus/links, images, and other elements have been geared towards the express purpose of search engine exposure and/or indexing. Making a site SEF should be included in the cost of initially designing and building a site. For an existing site, it should be quoted as a one time project fee. As long as SEF guidelines are followed with regards to any subsequent general maintenance to a site, no other tasks or fees should be required.

Think of making a site SEF as the preparation before running a long race. Then the race itself would be the SEO campaign.

So despite being different they are obviously tied together. Many of the features which make a website SEF (using clean markup, using the proper tags for optimal indexing etc.) make a site more accessible to search engine bots which will then ultimately enhance any long term SEO undertaking.

At Strategic Insights we build all our sites to be SEF from inception and have no problem retrofitting older sites with more SEF technology. If your site is currently behaving unfriendly toward search engines… come see us and we’ll sort it out! Once it is SEF, then we’ll discuss SEO.