Your website, mobile access, and your brand. Trouble?

Last post, I talked about the risks of not adapting your website for smartphone navigation (i.e. making it usable on a very small screen)

Today, I'll talk about the damage to your brand image if you don’t tackle this problem. Here’s an example. Last week, I stopped at a national chain coffeehouse. I ordered, and sat down with my laptop? No, I sat down with my smartphone. The page that popped up to allow me to use their free wi-fi was trouble.

It had a great deal of text, including promotions, logos, disclaimers, a button to agree to their Terms and Conditions, a button to read the Terms and conditions, a button for help, and a button to gain wi-fi access. All four of these links were exceptionally close to each other. So close, that it took me fat fingering the wrong links several times until I finally hit the right one.

Now this isn’t the end of the Republic or anything, but it did leave me with thoughts about the company. Here is a corporate touchpoint, accessed by customers how many times an hour nationwide, and it was clearly not designed with a smartphone in mind. It was designed for a full laptop screen. What does it say about that corporation? What does it say about their interest in how their customers perceive them? In short, what does it do to their brand image? “Oh, yes. They’re the coffee company with the antiquated website who thinks everyone comes in and sits down with a laptop. Someone needs to tell their marketing department that flip phones are out of style”

Is that how you want to be perceived?