Did you know that a third of those surveyed would rather give up sex than their mobile phones?
The point is, we are hooked and dependent on mobile devices, and the mobile market will be one of the most disruptive technologies that we have seen since the Internet. This year, 20% of all searches are expected to come from mobile device. That number is expected to be over 50% by 2015!
As a result of this trend, we have seen a flood of mobile apps. At $20 billion a year, mobile apps are big business as well. So when you make this crucial investment, make sure you do it wisely.
First of all, a definition: apps are a way to keep in touch with clients by driving traffic to your website without the need to visit your website online. They are a great way to provide effective customer services, advertisements, discounts or basic information on your company or practice. For most effective use, in addition to including QR codes in all your advertising and promotional literature to enhance your mobile phone app opportunities, make sure you are aware of the following tips, which I employ when creating my clients’ mobile apps. To help when shopping for an experienced professional to build your mobile app, here are some rules you should keep in mind:
- Your website should be “mobile-friendly”, with a design and features that translate well to the smaller screen.
- Make your app usable for all mobile platforms (iPhone, Android and Blackberry).
- Less is more. Don’t overload the screen with features and graphics. They take forever to load, and people don’t have the time to read so much. Also, make the menu buttons and font sizes large and clear.
- Prepare your app for both landscape and vertical, since moving between the two creates changes in sizing.
- Explore and approve your design in a Photoshop version prior to giving the ‘go ahead’ to develop the app. It will be much easier to make any desired changes on this version first.
- Test and re-test before circulating your new mobile app.
If you have feedback or questions, I’m ready to engage. In the meantime, you can let us know if you are in the one third who would give up sex before you’d give up your mobile phone!
