A little while back, mobile sites were the one of the hot buzz topics around the office. Everyone was really excited about the idea of making a custom website for mobile devices, but the reality was that many of our clients just don’t garner very many mobile visitors, and those that do find their way to our client sites on a mobile device convert at the same rate. Not really enough action to justify a mobile design.
Now the fire for mobile sites has died down a bit, and yet everyone in my department now has a smart phone (our resident wine-enthusiast, Becky, is especially excited about her new Droid phone). The entire office has converted to Gmail, so we can all obsessively check our work email while standing in line at our favorite burger place on our lunch break. And I, personally, can compulsively check and balance my bank accounts anywhere, anytime with ease.
Wells Fargo has come up with what I think is the perfect mobile site design, for three main reasons.
- There is the need for a mobile site for this company. Unlike our clients, who offer services that are not needed on a daily basis, everyone loves being able to check their bank accounts while on the go. Before mobile sites, I was texting my bank, and before that, I was calling the old-fashioned way. Now, I absolutely adore being able to see my balances, make transfers and pay my bills instantly on all of my accounts. These days, I rarely use the non-mobile website, or even actually enter a bank.
- The URL is insanely easy to type. So easy, in fact, that I have never actually bookmarked the Wells Fargo mobile site in my browser. Just type wf.com and away you go! Some sites I rarely visit on my phone, because my poor fingers just don’t want to type all those letters, but the wf.com address completely lacks that intimidation.
- They know exactly what I want, and don’t include anything else. Wells Fargo has clearly done some research on the top functions that their users want, and they have very cleverly kept these functions to a minimum, so that the site is very simple and easy to use. Viola, a screenshot:
There’s really only two things that I really want to do when using this site: view my accounts or find an ATM. So that’s all they’ve put on the homepage! Nice, isn’t it? There’s also an option to view the full site if you aren’t seeing what you’re looking for. Once you’re in, it’s a cinch to quickly see your account balances, make transfers, pay your bills, or pretty much anything else you might need to do on the go.
Our clients specialize in
ophthalmology,
cosmetic surgery,
personal injury, and
cosmetic dentistry. Their web visitors really aren’t likely to need to use a mobile site very often, as is evidenced by their low amount of mobile visitors. Our client sites also look lovely in mobile devices, so there aren’t many compatibility issues.
If you work in one of these industries and you are interested in trying a mobile website, keep in mind the three success factors of the Wells Fargo site: a need, a simple URL, and a clean design. Having a link back to the main site is always a good idea. That being said, here are a few different options you can try on a mobile site to impress your online visitors.
- Consider creating a site that only posts blog entries. This way, your visitors can keep up-to-date on your events and specials in case they are thinking about using your services.
- Include basic contact information such as a phone number, address and link to directions.
- Create an app that is useful to your visitors. For example, our ophthalmologists might consider developing an app that specifically targets those with poor vision. An app that compares prices of contacts and orders them online might be extremely useful for those visitors, and you can place a LASIK cost comparison within the app as well!
What about you? Do you have a favorite mobile site, or creative ideas on how a mobile site might be useful for your industry? We’d love to hear it!
