Integrating mobile Web for your banking site is the first stepto retaining customers and reaching the new mobile-savvygeneration. Consumers are embracing the conveniences that areoffered by mobile banking; 15% of consumers using mobile banking isup from just 12% in the second quarter of last year, and thatnumber includes nearly 30% of consumers between the ages of 18 and34, and nearly 15% of consumers between 35 and 54, as reported byAlix Partners.

Keeping the attention of mobile visitors is no easy task. Thechange in user behavior to a more mobile world means that consumersnow want content on the go, served to them on their favoritesmartphone. The same eye candy that makes a website look sogood from the desktop can bring your mobile user to his/herknees. This can be devastating when you're dealing withinherently slower processor speeds and slower mobile networks,especially when you are checking on your finances or makingfinancial transactions on the go.

Mobile Banking Trends

Research by Keynote Competitive Research shows that mobilebanking is still very much in its infancy. As banks optimize formobile Web, develop mobile apps and create other mobile tools,users are learning more about their mobile options and the toolsthat banks are offering. Of the top 15 retail banks in the U.S., 14offer banking on iPhone apps, while 13 offer mobile Web banking.Only seven banks offer mobile banking through each of SMS, mobileWeb and apps for all of the iPhone, Android and BlackBerryoperating systems.

Fortunately, the lessons of the mobile Web have fostered many ofthe same best practices that guided Web developers in the past. Atthe forefront of those design best practices is minimizing for thenumber of data requests that a device makes for each webpagedownloaded.

For each page there a can be quite a bit of back and forthcommunication between the device and the distant server deliveringwebsite content. Each HTTP request adds to the amount of timeneeded to download your site—and therefore increases chances ofuser abandonment.

When designing a mobile banking site, you can avoid downloaddelays that result in a negative user experience by minimizing thesize and objects on each mobile web page. Too many object requestsin general can quickly result in a website experience that fewusers will tolerate before giving up on the experience.

Designing Your Site for Mobile Web

Banks with abundant resources often leverage the ability tocreate mobile banking applications that are downloaded from an appstore by smartphone users. However, mobile applications arerelatively costly to develop and continually update/change. Thereis an efficient solution that can still produce a positive userexperience. Banks can more easily develop a mobile optimizedwebsite that looks and feels like a mobile app without the pricetag.

When it comes to Web page navigation on a desktop browser, usingURL redirects is a common technique. The redirection process ishandled automatically within the browser, happens very quickly onmost desktop Internet connections, and easily seen by the end-userwho is waiting for the page to load.

For mobile Internet content, URL redirect guidelines seem to bethe same as in the desktop world. Because many view the mobile Webis the regular “Web,” just viewed over a mobile device, developersbelieve that using URL redirects to help manage mobile content isjust as valid as it is in the desktop world. However, when themobile browser makes a URL request to the content server for themobile websites, instead of returning the base page, the contentserver actually returns a URL redirect causing a delay in theappearance of the page on your smartphone or tablet.

One thing is clear: When you're building a mobile site, you needto rethink some of the techniques you've used to build desktopInternet sites. Something that seemed standard operating procedureon the desktop Internet can magnify itself into an ugly userexperience when accessed over a mobile connection.

It could be that for mobile, you might have to do things in adifferent way. That may require more work, but it will result in abetter user experience and overall better retention of your mobilebanker.

Keep It Simple to Keep 'Em Around

You will gain little if your mobile site displays too manyobjects or seems crowded, if image sizes are too large, or if thenumber of requests are slowing down your processing time. A goodrule of thumb for deciding what content is really neededon a mobile page: when in doubt, leave it out.

Chances are that many users won't stick around for the 60-secondhome page download. This a potential lost mobile bankingcustomer—and these frustrated users are not very likely to return.Several images have downloaded, perhaps enough to generate animpulse sale. But aside from image downloading there are otherareas where this site can improve. Mobile banking websites shouldbe simple and easy to use.

Your mobile website is much more than a website on a smallerscreen. It's used differently, wireless networks are inherentlyslower, and smartphone processor speed simply can't replicate thedesktop experience. Yet your customers have similar expectactionsfor speed and reliability. Build a site with the expectations ofthe mobile user in mind, and they'll be much more likely to comeback.

Thoughts to Take Away

When building a mobile site for your financial institutionalways keep in mind the end user experience. What are the tools andapplications that will be most applicable to your current customerand your desired customer?

With an abundance in availability of Web developers, you shouldbe able to optimize your website for mobile devices with quicknessand ease.

Regularly monitoring and testing your website performance is acritical step to understanding your users experience and where youcan make continuous improvements to preserve the mobile userexperience.

The next step after optimizing your site for mobile is to takeit a step further and optimize for tablet devices, creating anoptimal banking experiences for users across desktop, smartphoneand tablet.

Tim Murphy issenior manager, Mobile Quality, at Keynote Systems Inc. in San Mateo,Calif.