Can your consumers access your site at anytime from anywhere?
A friend of mine could not get rid of a cold he has had for a couple weeks and decided to stop in a walk-in-clinic on the way home from work. He arrived at the office to find a 6 hour wait ahead of him for the evening. I started wondering how he could have avoided a long fix to the common cold (besides going to the doctor earlier before it became an extreme case). It would have been nice for him to be able to pull his phone out and look up the office number to call ahead, get directions or even see the “real time” wait. However, this organization did not have a site accessible for hand held devices. A mobile Internet site not only could have been another avenue for him to locate the organization, but also another way to provide easy customer service. Many of the organizations we work with have not created an external Internet site dedicated to hand held devices, such as mobile phones. My friend’s situation once again leaves me wondering why not?
Our clients ask us why there is an importance for mobile sites. In America today, there are 40 million mobile Internet subscriptions. 40 MILLION. Why aren’t organizations jumping to make their sites accessible to these users? With the growing number of people accessing the Internet through devices other than their home and work computers, it’s becoming increasingly vital for organizations to have a site that is accessible by hand held devices. The regular Web sites that were originally created to view on the home computer usually are difficult to view or cannot be seen on small mobile screens. They also contain large amounts of information that makes uploading difficult. According to research done by Nielson Mobile this year, consumers accessing the Internet by their cells phones increased by 73% in the last two years and will continue to grow. So what should you do?
As a start, try viewing your organization’s Web site on a cell phone or other hand held device. If the site is not conducive to the device from which you are trying to view it, consider developing a mobile strategy for your Web site. A simple piece of advice would be to start with the basics. Create a mobile site to provide visitors with basic information such as maps, directions, and phone numbers and grow the site from there. Most mobile users accessing a hospital site will be looking for contact information and directions so it is important to have this information clearly stated on the site. Mobile sites are an easy, fast and inexpensive approach to adding another way for your patients, and potential patients, of getting your information anytime and anywhere. A mobile strategy could also be a lead to using other mobile applications such as text messaging appointment reminders, event and class reminders, news updates, and health tips along with many other options. If your organization doesn’t have a mobile strategy the important thing to do now is get one started. Make it one of your organization’s New Year’s resolutions.