QR codes (Quick Response) are all the rage now, but many who are dabbling with QR codes make one critical error...they forget about how their user is viewing their content on their mobile phone.
Think about the following:
1. How is your content formatted? Does it show up right on a smart phone? I'll tell you that my regular site is not formatted correctly for mobile - when you open it up, you can't even see my phone # on the screen...how stupid is that? Try to avoid making them scroll a lot or push lots of links.
2. Does it have the info the mobile user is looking for? Think about this. If someone is looking stuff up a phone, they want quick answers - who are you, where are, how can I contact you, etc. They don't want to read drawn out stuff. They tend to be the type of person who wants the answer NOW. And, if they can't find it easily, they'll move on. So, put yourself in their shoes and think through what they want (or at least what they want now).
3. What are your load times for a mobile user? if your page is slow to load (e.g. has lots of graphics or video or flash), people are going to get annoyed and move on. I know I have done this on many sites.
So, what is the solution? Well the one I've chosen is to have a mobile website - basically a mini condensed version of my site that is targeted for mobile users. (If you have a wordpress.org blog site, I think there is also an option for mobile users, so this an alternative.
Feel free to check out my new mobile website flooring-westchester.mobi - It's brand spanking new and I don't even think it's indexed by google. There are a lot of edits I need to do (and I welcome feedback). It will definitely be a work in progress over the summer, but at least it's up and running and I'm starting the journey. (I welcome feedback).
So why is having a mobile site important?
1. You want you info targeted to your user for this channel. Make it easy for them. Less is more.
2. You want to rank highly for mobile searches. Apparently, the algorhythm for google is different when someone is searching on a mobile phone vs. a desktop. Sites with .mobi extensions are given priority, and those with faster load times are given priority (or at least that's what I've been told and it sounds logical). I can tell you that while my regular site ranks well on the regular computer, it was ranking lower for the same searches I did on my mobile phone.
3. It's a way to be a first mover/pioneer for your niche. Very few companies have mobile sites now (I forget if it's 4% or 1% or whatever % - it's low). So, you have less competition in this realm and the longer your site is established, the better. And, one more thing...and this is super cool...almost all of the damain names are available. So you can choose your key words. I have 2 domains (or at least will soon...Flooring-Westchester.mobi and Westchester-Flooring.mobi.
Up until this point, I really haven't been using QR codes, and I think I need to start. I just got a new QR code for this new website.
Here's my plan on how to use it.
Short term -
1. Create a car magnet esp since I'm a mobile shop at home service)
2. When I eventually (hopefully soon) get new signs made, I'll add this.
Longer term
3. Eventually when I redo my biz cards, I may add (although it may be to cluttered so not positive about this one.
4. I plan to incorporate into Home Shows and/or other similar gatherings where we have a booth. These will have specialized landing pages and offers for the show.
There really is a lot of opporunity, but we all have to take this one step at a time.
Update: Mike Saad from Worldlink did my website. See his response below to some questions you may have and/or feel free to contact him directly. (717) 875-3375
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