Bringing the processing power of the computer to your cell phone has made approximately 42% of Americans’ lives a whole lot easier. Smart phones provide users with convenience and all the resources of the internet literally at their fingertips. Although users search the web frequently with their mobile phone, finding websites that are easy to navigate is a rarity. Building a website that will accommodate nearly half the population is crucial to a company’s forward-looking success.
Mandel Group, Inc. is an integrated real estate services firm with operations in development, construction and property management. A significant share of Mandel’s prospects drive by the properties and are likely to look them up on the internet for more information before making contact. Mandel’s website had been an asset in their success and it was the perfect time to play off that success by creating a mobile-optimized site for their users.
“Mandel.com has evolved over the past ten years with the expert oversight of Starkmedia; our website is a well organized, easy to use machine that offers quality information conveyed through both content and photography. It’s an excellent tool for leasing and selling our luxury apartment and condominium homes. As part of growing the site, we determined taking it mobile was long over due.”
-Tracy Bredow
Challenges and Solutions
Two of the challenges mobile sites present are smaller screen sizes and longer load times. To tackle both challenges, Starkmedia created a home page that loads only minimal content, therefore substantially decreasing load times (by roughly 50% on the same connection). Taking into consideration the smaller screen sizes we created a basic menu with immediate access to the most important content.
Creating Convenience
To avoid the burden on Mandel of updating two separate websites, we used the sites existing CMS to pull information into the mobile site, allowing Mandel to update information for both sites in one place. The design remains consistent with the website, but utilizes a simplicity that appeals to the mobile audience. To ensure mobile users site experience all direct smart phone visits and search engine traffic is routed to Mandel’s mobile designed site. The simple, intuitive navigation and mobile-friendly display provide users on the go easy access to information for their apartment or condominium search.
