10 Ultimate Mobile Applications For WordPress
The advent of smart phones is creating a dramatic change in the way people access the internet. By 2013 it’s estimated that over 1.7 billion people will be mobile internet users and access their favorite websites regularly via their cell phones. Other industry insiders are predicting that cell phone internet access will represent around 50% of total internet usage within 5 years.
If you want your WordPress website to be a success, it’s absolutely crucial you make it accessible for mobile internet users, with plug ins to ensure their browsers can automatically configure your pages to view on a cell phone. Plus if you can update your blog or post new pages while you’re on the move from your own cell phone, you’ll be able to keep your website fresh and engaging wherever you are in the world.
It’s easier than you think to make your website mobile friendly. Once you’ve installed your website builder program, choose from 10 of the best mobile applications, which are all available to download from our resources page:
- WordPress Mobile Edition: this plug in automatically detects when a person enters your site using a mobile browser. Your website is then uploaded to specifically suit the browser they’re using. You can also customize the list of mobile browsers this plug in can detect and allow particular themes to load for specific mobile browsers. This is a really user-friendly plug in that’s great for getting your site mobile compatible.
- WordPress Mobile Pack: all the tools you need to get your blog mobile, all in one plug in. In fact this is one of the most popular mobile plug ins available with thousands downloading it. It’s extremely easy to use and dramatically reduces the load time for mobile users and properly configures their pages. This is so important to ensure your visitors don’t click away from your site before they actually get to see your great content. Images are also automatically rescaled for cell phone users, articles and posts are split intelligently into multiple pages and you can also track your mobile traffic to see how many people are reading you on the move.
- WordPress for iPhone: if you have an iPhone, this is a really useful plug in for keeping your blog up to date. Once you’ve created your site using your website builder, you can then write posts, upload photos, manage comments and make any edits all from your iPhone or iPod Touch.
- WordPress for BlackBerry: supporting the latest BlackBerry devices (8700, Curve, Pearl, Storm) you can upload photos and videos, edit all your posts and pages and generally manage your entire website from your mobile handset. You need at least Blackberry Device Software (OS) Version 4.2.1 to use this plug in.
- WordPress for Android 1.0: if you have an android mobile phone, this plug in allows you to manage your blog from your handset. This is such an easy piece of software, designed to configure and manage multiple blogs, reply to comments, write new posts, edit existing ones, including tags and photos. This plug in has replaced the previous wpToGo application.
- Wphone: great for managing your blog from your cell phone, there are 2 versions of this plug in designed for different handsets – Rich, which supports the iPhone, iPod Touch and other phones with full JavaScript. Or the Lite, a simpler version for all other types of phone.
- Mobilize: making your site compatible with any mobile phone browser is simple with this plug in. It redirects visitors through the Mippin server, which rearranges your content to suit any cell phone, including image resize and video formatting. This ensures your visitors can quickly access your content whilst still maintaining a brilliant presentation.
- MobilePress: you can keep any cell phone user happy with this plug in because it adapts the theme of your website to suit their handset capability. You can also track mobile users and insert mobile ads.
- WP Touch: this is a plug in and theme package all in one. It makes your site load at super speed on touch mobiles, allowing your content to still look amazing as well as being easy to access on a mobile.
- Quick SMS: blog visitors can send SMS messages directly to your mobile phone once you’ve installed this plug in. Once you’ve created your site using your website builder program, it’s a great way to get instant feedback on your posts and see who’s commenting on your site. Just make sure your mobile is registered with one of the supported networks.