Mobile web browsing isn’t what it used to be!  As smartphones dominate the mobile marketplace, WML web pages no longer carry as much weight and significance as they once did, and with new iPhone and BlackBerry browsers displaying CSS and JavaScript, the landscape has changed.  What hasn’t changed, conversely, is what people use mobile browsers for, which is quick information retrieval while on the go.  Understanding mobile browsing limitations can help you optimize your pages, especially if you’re a brick and mortar store.  Optimization of the mobile version of your site can be a good method of catching this traffic.

First, if you’re say, a resturaunt or a flower shop, chances are people who navigate to your site on a mobile phone probably aren’t doing so to read the extensive history of your establishment, they’re trying to find your contact information.  Display it prominently in the header of your home page, ideally using the hCard microformat.  The <tel> tag on many mobile browsers also acts as a dial function, so a user can just click on the link and call your business immediately.  This is a powerful, and often overlooked conversion metric.

Second, remember that mobile users don’t have a mouse.  Make sure your navigation can be easily accessed via a scroll wheel or a touch screen.  And that 8pt font that you think looks so stylish on your desktop site?  Not so stylish on a small phone screen!

Lastly, you may be compelled to set up a redirect forcing anyone on a mobile device who navigates to your desktop page to your mobile site.  Don’t!  Forcing users anywhere is bad usability, and maybe they want to visit your desktop site to read the extensive history of your establishment.  Instead, consider adding a link to the mobile version of from your desktop site, ideally near the top of the page.