The statistics don’t lie. You must have a responsive website if you’re going to connect with your customers.
The majority of consumers (98%) move between devices within the same day. And roughly one out of every four visits to leading ecommerce websites now comes from a mobile device (that’s a 138% annual increase).
Not only that, Google now ranks responsive sites higher in search engines.
So resistance is futile. You’ve got to go mobile. And you’ve got to provide the best possible user experience on all devices.
Worried?
Don’t be.
I’m going to tell you about a new tool that can help you find and fix the errors that occur on your site—for all users, on all devices—so you can provide a better user experience across the board.
(By the way, if you’re still stuck on finding a simple responsive website solution, read here about WPTouch Pro.)
The new optimization tool you don’t want to miss
ActiveStandards, a London-based company specializing in user experience testing for enterprise organizations (think HP, Alcatel-Lucent, Nestlé, and the like), decided it was time to provide an optimization solution for mid-market companies.
So the same engineers who provide solutions for the biggest brands around the world put together a unique solution that’s so simple, any sized company can use it.
It’s the only software (to my knowledge) that can find errors on any device.
Phostir is a lightweight script that scans your website each time someone visits, reporting errors in usability, accessibility, optimization, and more, making it easy to achieve a website that works right on all browsers and all devices.
I have to be honest, when I heard why they chose the name, I was impressed. If only from a branding perspective, it’s brilliant.
Phostir (pronounce it PHŌ-`STEER) comes from the Greek word, Phaos, which means light. So phostir means “to enlighten, give wisdom, illuminate.”
Their goal is to “shed light into what’s working and what’s not on your website.”
And that’s just what they do.
Here’s how it works
This is a Beta launch, so there’s no cost or obligation. All you have to do is visit Phostir’s website and sign up.
After joining, you’ll be given a short script that goes on your website and, following their instructions, it was easy. In my case, I have the Thesis theme, so I opened the Header hook and dropped in the tag.
At first, you won’t have any data, so your dashboard is gray.
But once people start visiting your site, Phostir will scan your site exactly as your users do—on whatever device they’re using, detecting errors as they see them.
You can view your error reports in two ways:
Prioritize, showing errors on high-usage pages first.
Analyze, placing errors on a graph, depending on the quality of each error.
Each report is shown on its own tab.
Here, let me show you…
The Prioritize tab
Notice that errors are prioritized for you, so you can fix problems on high-trafficked pages first, saving low-usage pages for later if you need to.
Click on one of the bars and you’re shown the URL of pages where the errors occur:
Select one of the pages to see the specific errors that users experience when viewing it:
Then click on the “view errors” bar. You’ll see the page as it renders in a web browser, with this box hovering over it:
This shows you clearly what errors are affecting your viewers, the percentage of users affected, and where they are on your page.
The Analyze tab
This tab gives you a high-level view of which errors need to be fixed, with each error represented by a point on the graph.
If you only have a few minutes to work on your website and want to fix one error, this is the way to do it. Just click on a point, and you’ll see this:
You’re shown the location of the page and the number of views and errors. Click on the link, and you are given a web browser view of the page, with a box (movable) describing the errors found on that page:
As on the Prioritize tab, you can see which errors are affecting users, as well as the percentage of users affected.
Notice that the report shows you what you need to do to improve SEO, accessibility and usability.
Regardless of which tab you choose, you also see the pages that deliver the most impact so you know which errors to focus on first.
It’s only going to get better
Phostir is being developed according to the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) model. They started with the features that filled the biggest gap in the market—being able to find errors on any device or browser, even for personalized or dynamic content.
Already, lots of new features are in the works (like telling you which device an error occurs on and showing you how the page looks on that device). But the priority of additional features will largely depend on beta users—what we respond to and what we request.
Best of all, it’s free as long as it’s in Beta mode, so now is a great time to give it a try… play with it… and get your website working great at no cost to you.
Seriously, fix your website, and you’ll rank better with Google and your customers. It’s a no-brainer. Check out Phostir today. I think you’ll like it.
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By way of full disclosure, I’ve been working with the folks at ActiveStandards to help with the marketing of Phostir. So I got to sign up just minutes after it was released and know some of the features that are in the works.
I get no additional compensation for telling you about it. I’m simply excited to be a part of the development of this incredible resource. As you know, I’m all about improving your conversion rate and optimizing your website—and Phostir is one of the best ways you can do that.
The post Responsive or Not, Here We Come! Make Your Website Work Well on ALL Devices appeared first on kathrynaragon.com.