Simon and Schuster has just modernized their family of websites to appeal to readers who visit them on mobile or tablet devices. The final phase of their roll out includes author and corporate webpages in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.
The rebuilt sites make use of the latest in responsive web design to automatically reconfigure SimonandSchuster.com’s content according to screen size, providing an optimal experience no matter how the user comes to the site: via desktop browser, tablet or mobile devices.
“In 2012 just 11% of traffic to our site came through mobile devices. One year later mobile represents 26% of traffic and the rate of growth is accelerating,” said Ellie Hirschhorn, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Simon & Schuster. “Our goal is to provide easy and direct access to the most relevant information to our readers wherever they are and on whatever device they are using, and responsive design allows us to accomplish that.”
In addition to optimizing its domestic and international consumer sites, in the United States Simon & Schuster’s dedicated communities, PulseIt (for teens) and XOXO After Dark (for women’s fiction) feature mobile-optimized html5 e-readers, which enable visitors to read the books on mobile and tablet devices, thus supporting and enhancing the user experience for the high volume of mobile traffic to those sites.
The next phase of their website revamp will focus on their business development, education, library and publishing support websites.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
