The City of Airdrieís website officially went mobile on Dec. 6.
Visitors who access Airdrie.ca on their mobile devices and tablets will now be able to do so on an entirely mobile platform in a responsive design that will fit to any screen size.
The mobile version of the website underwent a soft launch on Nov. 29 to ensure it was functional and that all bugs had been worked out, and hit the ground running on Dec. 6, nearly a year after the revamped desktop version of the site launched in February of this year.
Since the remodel of Airdrie.ca on desktop, the website has seen a steady increase in visitors - up to nearly 50,000 page views per quarter.
Before the new site launched, around 32 per cent of visitors used a mobile or tablet device to access the site. That number has now increased to 45 per cent (31 per cent on mobile devices, 14 per cent by tablet).
Previously, users who accessed the website on mobile devices would get the same version as they would on a desktop computer.
The new mobile version of the website has rearranged the content to be optimal for the screen the site is being viewed on, as well as adding touch-screen buttons.
ìWeíre constantly monitoring the websiteís traffic and adding and subtracting content,î said Lynda Phelan, team leader of Airdrie Corporate Communications. ìItís a trend that weíre seeing more and more users accessing the site by mobile devices.î
While the mobile version will appear different than the desktop, all content will still be accessible regardless of the platform and Phelan says she is hopeful that the mobile version will eventually evolve to cater to each userís preferences.
ìHopefully down the road, the mobile version will be able to respond to visitorsí usage and search queries, to bring the features that are most used up to the front and make the site easier to access,î said Phelan.
The most popular section of Airdrie.ca, according to Phelan, is Genesis Place, where people are able to view schedules and sign up for activities. This feature will be readily available on the new mobile version, as well as the community calendar and a section for residents to pay bills such as water and sewer.
Phelan and the IT (Information Technology) department with the City will be monitoring mobile traffic on Airdrie.ca closely, in hopes that the new version will drive up the number of visitors.
ìWhen we launched the new desktop version in February thatís when we saw the biggest spike in the number of visitors,î said Phelan. ìHopefully, we see the same thing with the mobile version.î
