These days you have to think mobile when you begin designing or redesigning your website. It’s no longer good enough for mobile to be an afterthought. Do you want to include all the content on your site? Do you want your site to have the same layout as on the desktop? Do you need to create new content that is mobile-only?

When we began planning for The Trestle Inn, a new and unique Philadelphia bar and venue owned by I-SITE’s very own Ian Cross, we set out to create a highly visual and interactive website driven by the Trestle’s unique brand and experience. While the long scrolling parallax layout for the website makes for a visually captivating desktop experience, many of the interactive features are not suited to a handheld touch screen interface. We knew we would need to create something very different for smartphones – a version of the site that would focus on what’s most important to whiskey lovers on the go.

Here are some things to keep in mind as you think about your mobile website.

Keep things simple.
When taking content from a desktop version of the site, we knew that we needed to keep the design and features simple. With mobile, you’re working with a restricted amount of screen space. The content we included needed to be easily readable and navigated from a mobile device.

Remember your audience.
When someone is using mobile, they have different goals and expect a different experience than the one they’ll get on your desktop website. But what exactly are they looking for? For The Trestle Inn mobile site, we chose key features like the calendar, menu and contact information. The audience wouldn’t be looking for The Trestle Inn’s history or press from their mobile device.

Brand consistency.
Everything that has your name on it is a brand touch-point, so it only made sense for us to match the mobile version branding to the desktop version of the site. We used elements for the mobile version that would best reflect and promote The Trestle Inn brand.

Think about user experience.
Mobile web pages load slower, so it’s best to keep pages, images and information to a minimum. We developed the mobile version of The Trestle Inn site to be one page that included all the information users would be looking for, but gave the user two different ways to navigate. Users can scroll up and down the mobile site or click icons at the top of the screen that will allow them to jump to exactly what they’re looking for.

Search Engine Optimization.
From mobile, users are finding your site by typing in the URL or clicking on a link to the site. Use an M-Dot URL. This lets Google recognize and index your mobile site separately from the desktop version.

Accessing the Internet on a mobile device is all about getting the information you want when you want it as quickly as possible. With a mobilized website, businesses gain the opportunity to instantly interact with more potential customers who are on the move – ideally in your direction. The more devices that your content is optimized for, the wider your potential reach.

Check out The Trestle Inn on your phone today and of course drop by for a jar if you’re in Philly!