The tablet craze is upon us in full force. There is no doubt about that. There have been over 69 million tablets sold this year. In coming years, far more tablets will be sold than PC’s and laptops. If you haven’t been already, it is probably time to start creating your websites with this in mind.
One thing you can do right now is take a look at your analytics. I use Get Clicky. I know many people use Piwik or Google Analytics. Whatever you use, you will have the option to see what type of operating system your visitors are using who visit your site as well as what type of browser they are using. Take a look and see if you are getting a lot of tablet visitors already.
If you are not getting a lot of tablet visitors now, you might in the future. Besides the obvious things like keeping in mind the aspect ratio and smaller screen size of tablets, there are a couple of simple things you can do to enhance the experience of visitors to your site, which will decrease your bounce rate and maybe even help some of your social signals.
Be aware of your site speed. Not just the load speed, but also are there a lot of videos and animations people need to see to get the full experience? Many tablet users are signing up with a cell provider to get internet access on the go, but even with 3G and 4G speeds, tests have found their connection speed to be lacking while moving about. A traveler on a train is going to have a difficult time streaming that latest video you just uploaded.
Of course, there are many times where a video is going to make sense and is going to give your site the best bang for its buck. Just be careful not to overdue it.
Tabbing is another area you are going to want to be careful with. Of the over 69 million tablets sold this year, over 65% have been iPads. Although the iPad can utilize much better browsers, 95% of users simply use the native Safari browser. Safari does a very poor job of dealing with tabs. You may have many of your links open to a new window or tab in order to keep people on your site. This could have a detrimental effect on the experience of iPad users who visit your site.
Simplify your checkout. Wherever possible eliminate unneeded information gathering in the checkout process. Do not ask someone for their address unless you absolutely need it. The more information you require them to enter, the more difficult it is for them. Typing on a tablet is not as easy or fun as the commercials make it out to be. If your customer is required to enter the full bio, you increase the chance of them putting off the purchase until later. They may never come back.
Lastly, consider offering downloads for certain material. If you are offering an eBook or tutorial, for example, let your visitor download it so they can browse it on their tablet at their convenience. Do not leave it only housed on your site.
With Amazon’s newest release pitting the Kindle vs the Ipad 2, the tablet craze is only going to get more intense.
