A mobile website is more than just a smaller version of your regular website. It’s a website that is designed and laid out to specifically work on a smartphone or tablet. While smartphones and tablets are basically just smaller computers, that doesn’t mean your website should treat them that way. A mobile experience is a whole different experience, and users expect different things.

If you’re designing a mobile page, or at least a mobile-friendly website (a site that is easily read by mobile devices, but not made specifically for mobile), here are four mobile design factors you need to consider.

Design a website specifically for mobile use.

1. Simple layout

Rather than using wide, multi-column layouts, a mobile website should be a single column of information. That way, a mobile device can resize the column and the text will adjust itself accordingly.

2. Smaller photos

If you take photos with your phone or digital camera, and upload them, you’ve probably uploaded larger photos than necessary. We’ve seen photos that are 1500 pixels wide. At 100 pixels per inch (ppi), that’s a 15 inch wide photo being made to fit on a little bitty phone. Reduce photo sizes to no more than 400 ppi in size.

Smaller photos load faster. Big photos equal big file size, and as fast as mobile phones are, big file sizes still take a while to transfer. If a user has to wait more than several seconds for your site to load, they won’t stick around.

3. Content

Body copy needs to be kept fairly short on a mobile website. Depending on how big a user’s phone is, you can usually fit 100 words or so on a screen without swiping. And while you’ve written some valuable information, no one is going to stick around for your 1,000 word manifesto on how your pizza sauce is completely organic and preservative free.

For a mobile website, people are typically looking for a few pieces of information: product description, a menu, pricing, directions, sometimes a blog, and how to get ahold of you. User reviews are also helpful. Keep body copy short, and give people what they want.

4. No Flash

If your regular website has Flash content, don’t put it on your mobile site. iPhones and iPads don’t read Flash, and since iPhones are half of the smartphone market share and <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/03/total-tablet-sales-down-in-first-quarter-but-ipad-market-share-back-up-to-68-percent/"iPads are 68% of the tablet market share. Don’t leave that much of your customer base out.

While having a mobile-friendly website is a great step in the right direction, we think mobile websites are a small business marketing tool worth having. By keeping these four design factors in mind, your mobile website could be both outstanding and profitable.

About the Author: Duncan Alney is the president and founder of Firebelly Marketing. He is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, photographer, and is working on his first social media marketing book, which will be out in late 2012. Duncan has lived in 3 continents and 5 countries, but is proud to call Indianapolis home.

Photo credit: Text100 (Flickr, Creative Commons)

Four Important Factors in Mobile Web Design is a post from Web.com | Blog

Mobile marketing continues to grow as smartphone adoption increases, but a lot of companies are failing to capitalize on this growing opportunity. This leaves the door wide open for forward-thinking business owners and marketers to dominate this still-young marketing channel.

Earlier this month, the Web.com group released our Small Business Mobile Survey, and we were excited about the number of different opportunities in the mobile marketing arena right now.

Let's face it, these things are getting popular.

To start with, according to comScore, there are 234 million US mobile phone consumers. That’s out of 313 million people in the US. Of that 234 million, 82.2 million use a smartphone. That’s 1 in every 2.84 people who own an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry.

People are using their smartphones to do searches on Google’s search engine or Google Maps, read reviews about products and businesses, visit websites about those products and businesses, and even make purchases or reservations.

All right there on their phone.

Your next customer could be sitting out in the parking lot, doing some mobile research, deciding whether they even want to come into your store in the first place.

Thanks to mobile marketing, you could gain or lose a customer before they ever set foot in your place.

Mobile marketing is going to be key to future growth. At least that’s what 69% of US small businesses believe. According to our survey, 64% of businesses will consider increasing their mobile spend this year.

This is a great opportunity for mobile marketing agencies and professionals. Nearly 2/3 of your potential clients are ready to do more mobile web — mobile marketing, web design, content development, localized SEO.

And they’re going to need it, because 60% of small businesses have a website (great opportunity for desktop web designers for that other 40%), while only 26% of them have a mobile-friendly website (same layout and content, but easily fits on a mobile phone or tablet device), and 14% have a stand-alone mobile site (content and layout designed specifically for mobile).

Of course, if you’re like most people, you barely have enough time to do what you’re already doing, let alone doing something new. In fact, 64% of respondents do their own marketing, and they’re saying that time and resources are already limited. Adding one more tool to the marketing toolbox may be more than they can handle.

To us, this presents two different opportunities for small businesses: 1) an outsourced mobile web design and mobile marketing company, and 2) an outsourced anything else — accounting, public relations, commercial cleaning, HR — that will free up an owner’s time so they can focus on the things that help them make money.

Mobile marketing is going to be an amazing new opportunity for a lot of small businesses, as the number of smartphone users grow, and as more consumers start using their phones for search, research, and shopping. And the businesses that are going to dominate in that arena are the ones who take advantage of the relatively slow adoption of this marketing channel.

About the Author: Duncan Alney is the president and founder of Firebelly Marketing. He is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, photographer, and is working on his first social media marketing book, which will be out in late 2012. Duncan has lived in 3 continents and 5 countries, but is proud to call Indianapolis home.

Photo credit: jessamyn (Flickr, Creative Commons)

Important Stats About Mobile Marketing is a post from Web.com | Blog

While this is not an exhaustive guide by any means — there are several very thick books on the subject — our hope is that we can give you a place to start, some ideas you can start implementing, and some strategies to get you started.

ddd

How to Decide What Business to Start

Starting a business, whether it’s a part-time home-based business, or a full-time business with its own location, has risks and rewards. But do the rewards outweigh the risks? How do you know whether the business is one you want to start? Are you following the crowd, or setting the trends?

Here are six tips to help you figure out what kind of business you want to start:

4 Examples of Interesting Businesses

As we talk to small business owners and entrepreneurs, we hear about all kinds of interesting businesses people have started because they have a passion for the work, they are able to fill a need, or they’re able to use past experience and knowledge. These are some of the interesting businesses we have found over the years.

4 Social Media Marketing Strategies to Promote Your Business

Social media marketing is one of the most effective and far-reaching marketing channels available to the 21st century. We want to give you a basic rundown of some tools you can use to start marketing your business, whether it’s online or a brick-and-mortar location.

4 Things You Can Do To Establish Your Business’ Online Presence

In the last section, we mentioned blogging, Twitter, and Facebook Pages as some of the best tools you can use for social media marketing. But we didn’t tell you how to use them. So here are four simple ways — some for the beginner, some for advanced users — to establish your business’ online presence.

4 More Secrets to Promoting Business Online

We’ve already shared four secrets with promoting your business online. And the world is filled with enough books on the subject, you could start a library, so those four tips are like that tiny first bite of an appetizer at the world’s largest buffet. We wanted to give you a few more secrets so you can continue to promote your business online. These tips are a little more advanced, but can have a great effect on your growth.

About the Author: Duncan Alney is the president and founder of Firebelly Marketing. He is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, photographer, and is working on his first social media marketing book, which will be out in late 2012. Duncan has lived in 3 continents and 5 countries, but is proud to call Indianapolis home.

A Guide to Starting Your Own Business: 5 Must Reads is a post from Web.com | Blog

We are thrilled by this Monday’s coverage on First Coast News in Jacksonville JAX. First Coast News covered the Web.com Small Business Mobile Survey and interviewed Aman Devgan VP. Marketing of Web.com. If you are a small business with customers who own smartphones you will find this video and the results of our survey interesting.

In fact just today the Pew Internet released their study Just-in-time Information through Mobile Connections which found that 30% of smartphone users used their phone to “Decide whether to visit a business, such as a restaurant” in the last 30 days. Our survey found that 1/4 of smartphone users that search for local business on their mobile end up purchasing in-store. See our survey infographic at our Small Business Blog #smbmobile

Check out the article by Claire Simms at FirstCoastNews.com. Thank you First Coast News.

[VIDEO] Small Businesses Need Mobile Sites : Web.com Survey on FirstCoastNews.com is a post from Web.com | Blog

I recently wrote a guest post for SmallBiztrends.com titled “5 Small Business Lessons From Mad Men”. The article has a few of my thoughts after watching the AMC TV Series Mad Men. The first comment is from Amie Marse who said ” I suggest you lay back and enjoy all that Mad Men has to offer. I do the same thing, always thinking about a blog post or idea for a client while I am watching TV. BUT – your brain needs some “relax” time. So let it take a breather with Mad Men, it’s a great escape”. I think she is right but at the same time in today’s day and age do we let go of the thoughts about our business even while relaxing? Have you found any way to disconnect and reconnect from thoughts about your business. Maybe you have the solution. Would love to hear from you. Also make sure you let me know what you think of my SmallBizTrends.com article. Thanks.

Business Lessons From Mad Men? My Post on SmallBiztrends.com is a post from Web.com | Blog

We’ve already shared four secrets with promoting your business online. And the world is filled with enough books on the subject, you could start a library, so those four tips are like that tiny first bite of an appetizer at the world’s largest buffet. We wanted to give you a few more secrets so you can continue to promote your business online. These tips are a little more advanced, but can have a great effect on your growth.

1. Practice Search Engine Optimization

This is one of the most important steps you can take, and is worthy of a couple of books itself. SEO is the act of making sure your website is easily found and understood by search engines, which makes it easily found by potential customers. For example, use keywords throughout your website and blog in the title, copy, and anchor text. There are many other strategies, and they’re constantly changing, so read up on the latest SEO strategies on different blogs and websites.

Duncan Alney interviews Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard

2. Create YouTube Videos

YouTube is not only the biggest video sharing site in the world, it’s also the world’s second largest search engine, behind Google. (They’re also owned by Google.) Produce some helpful how-to videos that show people how to use your product, or find a solution to a problem your product solves.

Note: this is also a good SEO move, because Google will often include videos in search results. That means, if you want to place high during a search, don’t focus so much on SEO for Google. Focus on it for YouTube, and rank for that search instead.

3. Appear on a Podcast or Internet Radio Show

Podcasts are radio shows that are dowloaded to a person’s MP3 player, and listened to at their convenience. Some of these podcasts will allow guests to be interviewed and talk about a particular issue or topic they’re knowledgeable about. While this isn’t a chance to commercially plug your product or service, you can be interviewed as an expert about your particular industry or niche. Check out the iTunes podcast library and BlogTalkRadio.com for possible podcasts.

4. Start an online community

This one is a biggie, and it’s going to take a lot of time and effort, but if you’re serving a previously underserved niche, this could be huge. Find a social networking tool like Ning.com or one of its free alternatives, and set up the basic structure of the new community, inviting as many people as you can from that industry or community.

Offer up some basic content starters — questions, comments, interesting ideas or articles — and encourage people to discuss it. They will end up building and growing the community themselves, and will be invested in seeing it grow. This will not only help your visibility — after all, you’re the creator — but it will lend to your credibility, making people see you as one of the leaders of your industry.

These four steps are slightly more advanced than our last article. But we think that creating videos, participating in podcasts, creating communities, and practicing SEO on your website will go a long way in helping not only grow your business, but even enhance your personal brand as well.

Duncan Alney is the president and founder of Firebelly Marketing. He is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, photographer, and is working on his first social media marketing book, which will be out in late 2012. Duncan has lived in 3 continents and 5 countries, but is proud to call Indianapolis home.

4 More Secrets to Promoting Business Online is a post from Web.com | Blog

In a previous article, we talked about four things businesses can do to help their social media marketing. We mentioned blogging, Twitter, and Facebook Pages as some of the best tools you can use for social media marketing. But we didn’t tell you how to use them. So here are four simple ways to establish your business’ online presence.

1. Invite Guest Bloggers to Post to Your Blog

Guest blogging is a great way to promote your blog to a whole new audience. You’re not only bringing in someone new who will interest your readers, but that guest writer will also share their article (and your blog) to their own network.

Networking with people in a real-world setting is vital to growing your business

“I’ve guest published a new post on Agatha Messerschmitt’s blog at AgathaMesserschmitt.com. Please check it out.”

This will bring in new traffic to your blog, where hopefully people will check out your own work as well, sign up for your newsletter or RSS feed of your posts (a notification system that tells people when you’ve published a new blog post), and become your readers as well. Eventually you’ll do some guest blogging as well, which also brings in new readers to your blog.

2. Run Facebook Ads

We like Facebook ads, because it’s a way to target people on the world’s most popular advertising channel, without spending a lot of money. Facebook allows you to target a certain demographic — say, married women between 40 – 60, living in Ohio — and lets you spend a small amount of money per ad click. In other words, someone clicks the ad, you pay that amount.

You can then measure the click-through rate, and see how many people visited the ad. From there, you can see how many people took advantage of your offer, or heeded your call to action. You can easily calculate whether you made money on the campaign, and keep it, change it, or drop it completely.

3. Start a #Tweetchat

A tweetchat is basically a public chat room on Twitter. You use a #hashtag (a one word topic of discussion preceded by a #, like #marketing or #SmallBusinessOwner) and everyone else who is interested in participating will be able to follow along. Use a tool like Tweetchat.com to keep up with the discussion in real time.

Pick a day and time (usually for an hour), and invite your Twitter network to join in the discussion. As participants’ followers see their part of the discussion, they may also join in. It’s a good idea to participate in a couple tweetchats before you start your own, just to see how they work.

4. Network In Person

Attend different business networking events, like your local Chamber of Commerce, industry groups, professional associations, or even different entrepreneur groups like BNI (Business Networkers International). This is where you meet people who share similar business interests, own their own businesses, and are well-connected within their community and their industry. As you get to know people, you’ll also tell them where they can find more information about you.

There are literally thousands of things you can do to establish your online presence. But it makes sense to start slow and master a few tactics before you find new ones to try. These are a good start, and can be done quickly and easily, but give you excellent results if you continue to work at them.

Duncan Alney is the president and founder of Firebelly Marketing. He is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, photographer, and is working on his first social media marketing book, which will be out in late 2012. Duncan has lived in 3 continents and 5 countries, but is proud to call Indianapolis home.

Photo credit: ElliottNg (Flickr, Creative Commons)

4 Things Small Businesses Can Do To Establish Their Online Presence is a post from Web.com | Blog

Social media marketing is one of the most effective and far-reaching marketing channels available to the 21st century. We want to give you a basic rundown of some tools you can use to start marketing your business, whether it’s online or a brick-and-mortar location.

1. Blogging

This should be the hub of your social media marketing campaign. The blog is where you’ll drive people to, and where you’ll share your best information. The blog is where you can write article after article about the issues and problems that affect your readers. You can provide helpful advice, share new knowledge and information, and update people about things going on in your industry.

2. Twitter

Twitter is a communication tool that lets you communicate with your followers (people who are connected to you on Twitter) in 140 character bursts. These can be questions you have, answers to someone else’s questions, interesting information you found at a conference, or even important articles that have an impact on your industry.

3. Facebook Business Page

A Facebook page lets you share what’s happening at your business with friends and family, as well as customers who “like” your page and want to hear more about what’s going on.

Your Facebook Page — which is different from your personal profile — is your water cooler where people can gather to share information and ideas. Some business owners will schedule a weekly Q&A session. Others will ask people to share their own information, like a vacation travel company asking, “what’s the best (or worst) vacation you ever took?” Posting regular questions and conversation starters like this will keep people coming back.

Social media marketing lets you establish trusting relationships with customers.

4. Establish Trusting Relationships

This isn’t a social media tool, but the foundation of all the social media marketing work you’ll do. Social media is not just a place where you can sell, sell, sell. You’re not going to start a Twitter account where you only announce sales, or create a Facebook Page and promote nothing but ads. That turns people off, and they’ll ignore you completely.

Instead, build relationships with these other tools. Answer questions on Twitter. Encourage fans and friends to share stories on your Facebook page. Write about answers to common questions on your blog. By doing this, your readers will come to trust you as a valuable resource, and someone who can provide them the information they need.

When the time comes to make a purchase or find a solution to a bigger problem, they’re going to turn to the person or the business who provided them with helpful information, the person they have a relationship with. Not the person who bombarded them with ads and buying messages day in and day out.

Duncan Alney is the president and founder of Firebelly Marketing. He is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, photographer, and is working on his first social media marketing book, which will be out in late 2012. Duncan has lived in 3 continents and 5 countries, but is proud to call Indianapolis home.

Photo credit: Oooh.Oooh (Flickr, Creative Commons)

4 Social Media Marketing Strategies to Promote Your Business is a post from Web.com | Blog

As we talk to small business owners and entrepreneurs, we hear about all kinds of interesting businesses people have started because they have a passion for the work, they are able to fill a need, or they’re able to use past experience and knowledge. These are some of the interesting businesses we have found over the years.

Emergency Supplies Provider: We’ve heard of people who make a great business out of providing some kind of service to emergency workers. A few years ago, we heard a story about someone who provided fax services out of a trailer near the command center of forest fires. There are a number of people who run small convenience store trailers in similar emergency situations.

Handyman: Many a retired contractor or knowledgeable do-it-yourselfer has started a handyman service, providing minor repairs and fixes around the house. Rather than calling in an expensive contractor to fix something minor, like replacing a light fixture or patching a small hole in the drywall, a handyman charges a fraction of the price. As a result, a handyman or handywoman is usually in high demand by clients.

Genealogist: If you love history, delving deep into the minor details that paints an entire picture of someone’s life, then this is a very interesting job indeed. You’re a detective, solving puzzles about a person’s identity, history, and even their personality. A professional genealogist is hired by someone to trace a family’s history, from present-day to “the old country,” spending the day getting paid to do the thing they already love doing.

Mobile App Developer: Whether it’s a games app, a business app, or even an entreprise level app that will be only used by some of the largest companies in the world, a mobile app developer creates tools that have the ability to change the way we do things. Instagram, Angry Birds, Foursquare, Yelp, bar code scanners, and even Pandora have changed how mobile phones work, making them more about the computer experience than making phone calls. This job may take specialized programming knowledge, but with the growing use of smart phones, is also the kind of job where you can work as a solo practitioner, or work for a larger mobile development agency.

The great thing about owning your own business is that you get to do what you’re passionate about. These are just a few businesses that we thought sounded kind of interesting, fun, or just plain cool. If you’re interested in starting your own business, keep checking out web.com as we talk about how you can start and grow your own business.

Duncan Alney is the president and founder of Firebelly Marketing. He is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, photographer, and is working on his first social media marketing book, which will be out in late 2012. Duncan has lived in 3 continents and 5 countries, but is proud to call Indianapolis home.

Photo credit: FridgeUK (Flickr, Creative Commons)

4 Examples of Interesting Businesses is a post from Web.com | Blog

If you’re looking for news, trends, and research that can help you succeed as a small business owner, then you’ll want to check out ExaByzness.com. This aggregation website provides the latest resources on industry-related topics, from operations and customer service to marketing and thought leadership.

When you subscribe to ExaByzness, you’ll receive a daily text and video summary via email. This brief feed keeps you in the know in less than 3 minutes a day, and it includes highlights from various content categories on the site:

• Today’s News
• Emerging Trends
• The Cutting Edge
• Driving Revenue
• Money, Markets & Planning
• Human Resources
• Leadership & Strategy
• Taxes, Laws & Regulations
• Resources

Want to learn more? Like ExaByzness on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Small Business Resource: ExaByzness.com is a post from Web.com | Blog