With more smart phones, tablets and other mobile devices being produced and sold than ever before, people are staying connected, from the office, the dentist, the chiropractor, the grocery store, and everywhere else that their busy day takes them. If not already the case, there will soon be more mobile internet users logged on at any given time than those using stationary personal computers and laptops combined.
When one of these mobile users, perhaps in a moment of extreme duress, conducts a search for Hope, Help or God, you want to make sure you are ready to answer the call.
Formatting Your Website for Mobile
Optimize your website for mobile phones. If you visit a site on your mobile phone that is not optimized for mobile, it will appear much like it does on your PC or laptop - only much smaller. You'll have to blow up each section just to read it. Mobile optimized sites, on the other hand, are formatted differently, so that you can read each section clearly, and browse much as you would a regular site.
To do this, you will have hire someone to reformat your site for a variety of devices. You can then employ a "sniffer" program that will immediately detect what kind of device is accessing your site, and it will present the most readable site format for that particular device, whether it is a PC, laptop, cell phone or tablet.
Mobile Check In Keeps You Connected
Certain applications allow a user to check in, via the GPS feature in a smart phone, virtually broadcasting where that user is. This allows nearby businesses to send them coupons and discount offers, along with letting their friends know where they are, in case they happen to be nearby and want to connect. When people check in to announce that they're attending your church services or special event, this brings a great deal of positive exposure for your organization.
You can also take advantage of the mobile coupon application to send notices of church services, discounted tickets to church sponsored events, church store discount coupons and more to people who check in within a certain radius of your ministry.
In summary, in order to reach out to your busy congregation today, sometimes you have to reach a little farther in order to keep up with them as they rush from place to place. Mobile technology puts your message right at their fingertips, any place, any time.
For more information on this and other topics, get your copy of "The iChurch Method Volume 1: How to Advance Your Ministry Online." or The iChurch Method Volume 2: Changing the World When You Login or even sign up for the iChurch Method Online School.