Magazine serving the bus and rail transit & motorcoach operations since 1904
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MOTORCOACH WEB DESIGN What Motorcoach Operators Need to Know about Web Responsiveness Mobile devices are surpassing PCs in popularity, becoming the new method for customers to access information about your operation. Responsive web design ensures customers using mobile devices get quick, easy access to all the information on your site. BY NICOLE SCHLOSSER, Senior Editor s martphones and tablets are everywhere now, requiring motorcoach operators to be certain their websites are as accessible as possible to every customer and potential customer. In response, some carriers are taking the next step and making their websites responsive to be easily read on mobile devices. According to Internet news blog Mashable, 2012 was an "unusual year in the PC market" because "For the first time since 2001, PC sales are projected to be lower than they were in the previous year." Consumers are instead purchasing tablets. Tablet sales are ex- 46 < mETRO mAGAZINE JUNE 2013 iStock image © Don Bayley pected to exceed 100 million this year. Additionally, according to Nielsen, the majority of U.S. mobile subscribers now own smartphones. Responsive Web Design (RWD) is the process of creating websites that provide optimal viewing — including reading and navigation with the user having to do very little to adjust their screen, such as resizing, panning and scrolling. Upgrading to RWD makes it easier for the growing number of customers and potential customers using mobile devices to access your website, especially since most of them are starting their product and service research online, according to Eric Elliott, GM of bus operator and travel provider directory BusRates.com. "[The majority of ] consumers now start everything they do online before they even call," he says. "[Your] website…gives your customers the ability to see who you are, so when they call you, they're more of a pre-qualifed customer to you, as opposed to just giving you a call, asking questions and requesting pictures." Tat means operators need to develop different, optimized views of their sites metro-magazine.com