Unless you have been living under a rock for the last couple of years, it should be obvious that you really need to make your blog mobile friendly.
Smart phones have now become the standard, and most people are now using them. People are able to now log onto the internet no matter where they are (providing there is wi-fi in the area) to do things such as:
- banking
- shopping
- get sports results
- watch videos
- do research
- social networking
- and practically anything that they want to
Prices have now become affordable and the technology is advanced enough to make it all possible. We have come a long way in the last decade or so, back when using a mobile meant that there was no colour displays, no pictures, no internet and text messages were a novelty.
So in this day and age if you are a serious blogger, you want to make your blog mobile friendly and take advantage of the extra traffic that this can generate. Some people only use their mobile (or cell phone if you are American) to access the internet, and don't bother using lap tops or desktops anymore.
Here are some suggestions that you can use to make your blog mobile friendly:
1. WPTouch
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This is the WordPress plugin that I use for this website.
WPTouch makes it easy to navigate through your blog posts and is set out like the image on the left.
It is a different interface to the way your blog looks on a lap top or a desktop, but for a mobile user it makes it dead simple to sort through the content on a site.
You are still able to post comments on a blog post with WPTouch, just like you would on a normal website. Pages are not shown, but as a blogger it is your posts that are most important.
The menu also enables you to search by tag and category to find posts, which is a very useful feature.
I use the free version myself, but you can upgrade to a Pro membership if you want more features enabled.
2. MoFuse
Top blogs like Mashable, Readwriteweb, Makeuseof use MoFuse. It does have a free option, but it does not appear to offer much on the free version.
There are four different membership plans available which will give you much more options and freedom to set it up the way that you want it to display to your readers.
3. Mobify
A lot of the top brands including, MTV, Sitepoint, Boingboing, Smashingmagazine, Discover Magazine and others are using Mobify, so it must be good.
The main feature of Mobify is that it enables you to really customise your design and gives you a nice professional clean look.
4. WordPress App (on either iPhone or Blackberry)
You can easily download WordPress onto your iPhone or Blackberry and be able to write or edit posts, upload photos, edit pages, and manage comments on your blog.
This is a great idea if you happen to come up with some ideas for a blog post and want to start a blog post while you are out. Obviously this is only for the administrator of the blog, and not the readers.
To make your blog mobile friendly you will want to choose only one of the first three options above, because if you install multiple plugins you will more than likely experience a conflict, and your blog will not function at all on a mobile phone.
My recommendation is to use the free version of WPTouch as this gives you everything that you need and it will not cost you anything.
Image Copyright (c) from 123RF Stock Photos
