Nielson, the global leader in consumer behavioral information, has estimated that by Christmas of 2011 (yes, less than 3 months away) that Smartphones will overtake standard feature cellular phones in the U.S. In fact, 1 in 2 Americans will have a mobile device that is capable of so much more than just making a voice call. Composing emails, web surfing, texting, and specialty application usage have become the norm for the masses.

Because smartphone devices are attached to most of us like an extra appendage and we rarely go anywhere without them, the proliferation of mobile web surfing has become staggering in just the last 2 years. The convenience of having fingertip access to information from just about anywhere in the world has us hitting websites in record numbers from devices other than a standard computer.

What most website owners don’t realize is exactly how this quick adoption to mobile surfing impacts their current website. Without a ‘mobile optimized’ version of the website, end user experience will usually be very disappointing. In fact, the bounce rate, or number of times the visitors immediately exits the site upon arrival will be very high.  The primary reasons are due to the website rendering much too small on the device and the inability of users to navigate easily from page to page. A properly developed mobile specific website, however, will fully engage the visitor by offering legible content and larger buttons for easier navigation.

One final important component is the website’s hosting environment. It is critical that the web server is capable of auto directing the visitor to the proper site based on the device being used to access it. For example, if I go to www.cnn.com on my mobile device, their web server automatically guides me to www.m.cnn.com , which is their specific mobile version. The same is true for The Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau website. Go to www.visitcape.com on your mobile browser and you are automatically redirected to www.visitcape.com/Mobile%20Home.aspx. Give it a try!

We recently launched a new website for The Greene Outdoors, an online retailer that specializes in archery equipment. 

The Greene Outdoors is well known for their exceptional customer service, so it was super important that we follow through with a hassle free online shopping process that was as intuitive and user-friendly as The Greene Outdoors itself. 

We worked side by side with The Greene Outdoors to ensure the site fit their culture and retail needs. We crafted a list of features and functionality to focus on:

 - Products easy to find & easy to add to shopping cart

- Quick user signup 

- Secure check out process

- Online layaway options

- Gift cards available

- Calendar w/user submission capability

- Capability for users to submit testimonials

Items that we had completed before for other clients weren't difficult to implement, but a few of the new features took some hard work, and programming ingenuity. 

As one of our lead developers, Manish Shrestha was the point man on the site and programmed new systems for the gift cards, online layaway and several custom store modules.

"Before we created the online layaway system they were taking layaway orders over the phone and keeping track of payments manually. With the new online system they will be able to accept layaway requests from their website, and an automated back-end module will help keep track of payments," commented Shrestha.

Casey Greene, president of The Greene Outdoors, wrote the following testimonial after working with us on his new website:

 "I have never worked with any company like Element 74 before. All the other people I have had in the past were very difficult to talk to or to get anything done the way I had envisioned it. This led to our former websites having multiple errors which resulted in lack of sales and lack of good placement on the search engines. With Element 74 there was constant communication and Shrestha was awesome. He would call me and say, 'I have this module done for you try it and let me know what you think.' I would look at it and give him a call back, which he always answered never voicemail, and would say, 'I like it but it needs this small tweak…' He never complained and worked hard to get what I envisioned to the end product. Now I have a website up and running that works flawlessly. Plus, I have the security in mind to know if there is ever an issue, the guys at Element 74 are there to take care of it immediately."

We encourage you to check out The Greene Outdoors brand new website at www.greeneoutdoors.com. They ship all over the world, and have a deep passion for the archery industry. Take a look and verse yourself in bows, arrows and targets!