Thursday, October 17, 2013
Imagine trying to read this page if it was shrunk to the size of a postage stamp.
Have you ever gone to a website using your smartphone only to find it is impossible to read or navigate because the phone attempts to fit the standard webpage into the tiny phone screen? After several frustrating minutes of resizing, waiting for the site to load, scrolling and looking for navigation buttons you give up.
According to research published by Sesame Communications, one fourth of web traffic already comes from mobile devices, and it is growing rapidly. Sesame predicts that mobile browsing will surpass desktop browsing as early as 2014. There is little doubt that we need to optimize our sites for mobile, the question is how do you do it?
“Upgrading your practice’s website to adopt certain design principles, also known as responsive design, will enable your site to look and function effectively across all devices and screen sizes,” says Diana Friedman, CEO of Sesame Communications.” This can significantly impact new patient flow, referral success and ultimately case starts and profitability.”
Using responsive web design, a website detects the device on which it is being viewed and reformats itself to fit the screen. You do not want to create a different web page for different device screens. One website with the same content for all devices makes it easier for search engines to index a website, improving SEO. Responsive design uses a single website that is formatted for different devices.
At this time we are using three distinct screen sizes, traditional desktop monitors, tiny smart phones, and in the middle tablets such as the iPad.
In general we can think of the three screens in this way: Desktops are for work and productivity; Smartphones are for communication; Tablets are for entertainment.
A person will sit down at the desktop to write a novel or run a spreadsheet. Although you could do that with a smartphone it would be silly. People use the phone to text, get directions, look up an address, check the weather and even to make phone calls. Tablets are in between. People use them to casually surf the web, read the paper, catch up on Facebook or watch a movie, but they don’t generally write a novel.
You should design your responsive web site for each screen. A person who opens the site on a full size computer is most likely sitting at a desk, they have time to browse. They have a business-like manner. They even might be at work. The research from Sesame finds that on dental practice websites after the home page, the most common page people look at is “about the doctor.” So you want to have a nice easy to find “about the doctor” page. The other important pages are “about the staff,” location and finances.
People using the desktop may also fill out forms, make payments and check on appointments. The desktop site needs a large visually interesting home page with deep content including online services, such as digital forms.
Do not have automatic music. The first thing most people do when they hear a website launch music is to try and turn it off, especially if they are at work.
At the other end, people using a smartphone are not likely to want to fill out forms or read a lot of text. The screen is just too small and onscreen keyboards too cramped. Smartphone users are usually looking for the phone number or directions on how to get to the office. A smartphone home page can be three simple, large format, thumb friendly buttons labeled “Phone”, “Location”, “More” with a simple logo or graphic.
Once again the tablet is in between. The home page should be visually interesting with lots of graphics sized to a tablet; in other words, less stuff than the desktop. Tablet users are less likely to fill out forms or make payments. There should be simplified, easy-to-find, touch friendly navigation buttons.
New devices, new screen resolutions and new web browsing methods are constantly coming online. Rest assured your patients will immediately take advantage of them. With responsive design, your practice will be ready with a single, future-friendly website. The future is coming and it will be amazing!