2013 marks the first year since 2001 that PC sales are actually projected to decrease just as smartphones and tablet sales have nearly doubled in the past two years. It’s no wonder why Pete Cashmore, founder of Mashable Magazine, declared, “2013 is the year of responsive design”. Nowadays, given the rapid emergence of mobile browsing, web designers and clients must approach web development with mobile in mind. But before starting the design for a mobile friendly site, you must first think about the content. Here’s how to make sure your content is ready for the mobile reformation.

Image via Dotconinfoway.com

The “one-screen-size-fits-all” approach to web development is slowly, but surely, becoming obsolete.  With 25% of people in the United States using only their mobile phone or tablet to access the web, companies must ensure that their websites offer users a satisfying experience across multiple platforms and screen sizes. Google’s #1 recommendation for mobile optimization, are ‘responsive’ websites. Responsive sites adjust themselves to whatever platform the user is utilizing - whether it be a smart phone or a 27” computer monitor. Web designers provide the framework, but, many times, it is the client who provides the content to fill in this framework. Just like the framework, any text, images, and videos have to be flexible to adjust to different screens.

In order to make sure that your content is groomed for mobile usage, here are few things to consider:

Know Your Users

People using mobile phones or tablets to surf the web may have different needs than those surfing from home. Additionally, there are many people who no longer own a desktop or laptop, instead they opt to use their mobile devices as their main means of accessing the web. Identifying what your audience expects from your website across multiple platforms will allow you to deliver to them the best experience possible.

Scale Up, Not Down

If you are building or redesigning your website it helps to start with a mobile-first approach. Begin with thinking about the user experience on the smallest platforms first, such as smartphones. Then scale up to tablets and desktops. As smartphones have the least amount of screen space to work with, building with mobile in mind will help you make sure that you’re only putting in content that supports your site’s overall purpose.

Information Architecture

Information architecture is the logical organization of your site’s content to enhance user-experience, maximize search engine optimization, and encourage conversions. As mobile phones and tablets have smaller screens and thus less room to display information, it’s crucial that content is ordered according to the user’s intent. The information that satisfies the most users should be at the top, leaving the least pertinent information for the bottom.

Text

When it comes to the written copy on your website, regardless of screen size, always follow the golden rule of web copy -“less is more”.  For mobile browsing this is especially true. Truncating long text and providing links to read more is one way to avoid your mobile readers from having to scroll through enormous amounts of text. Typography must also be considered. While some fonts may display beautifully on your desktop, on a mobile phone, the same font may not be legible. Also, using ems, a scalable unit of measurement for font size is much more flexible than the more commonly known fixed-size pixel units.

Images

Images are an important part of the content on your site and thus, your overall message. But if you don’t choose images of the right size and proper formatting, it could significantly slow down your site’s load time. To ensure that images render the same across different screens, format images according to percentage widths and heights instead of fixed-size pixels. This will ensure that your image takes up the same amount of screen - no matter the device.

Although these items are a good start, a quality web development agency will discuss with you the importance of responsive content and devise a strategy for your project. To learn more about the advantages of responsive design, read Cool Blue’s feature article and see why responsive websites are Google’s #1 recommendation for mobile optimization.