For those who have been blogging for awhile now, more than likely have addressed their mobile/tablet users needs. However, for those just starting out, you need to consider how you will optimize your blog for iPad users.

Why Optimize For iPads?

One only needs to hit any coffee shop and see the amount of people using iPads or Google tablets to understand the reasons for tablet optimization. We can not deny the that soon laptops and Pc’s will be more like spotting the Lochness monster.

iPhone and iPad sales for the fourth quarter of 2010 were astronomical. iPhone sales alone were up 92% from last year and the revenue generated by iPad sales topped 2.7 billion…yes billion! You can check out all Apple Q4 2010 results if you like.

With so many people grabbing these devices, it is clearly obvious that a lot of visitors to our blogs will be on one of these devices.

Tips To Optimize

In my opinion, iPads are still relatively a new toy, so things will change as the technology progresses. For now though, I have come up with a few tips to optimize your blog for mobile devices, specifically the iPad/G tablet.

1. Device Detection Plugin:  I installed WPtouch which recognizes tons of mobile devices. You have the option to insert iPad and any other device you would like to be recognized as well. This will allow all users to see a special theme designed specifically for said devices. iPad users can also toggle between iPad view and desktop view.  Additional option to add your Google Analytics code and track visitors.
2. Larger fonts: are more tablet/mobile friendly. I think larger fonts are more desktop friendly anyways!
3. Flash media:  Just don’t use it at all. On desktops it’s annoying and slows down your site…on mobile devices and iPads it shows up as a big blank box. If you insist, then in order to optimize for these devices, you need to convert to Apple’s HTML5 format. And oh yes, there is a plug in for that too.
4. Special Offers: Now here is one I am trying to implement into my theme. Imagine an iPad user or mobile user directed to or presented with a “special offer for iPad users” page. Makes em feel all happy and bouncy! If someone has suggestions on exactly how to accomplish this, please let us know in the comments. I included this because if it’s done, I can imagine links coming back to the site that provides this, as people will share that feature. Just a theory though.
5. List Your Site:  Apple has a iPad ready website page.   You will be able to see sites like CNN, MSNBC, etc and scroll to the bottom where you can submit your site. Doesn’t hurt to let Apple know you got em covered!

Another quick tip, according to Apple, many websites have their width set incorrectly for tablets, even after optimizing. There is a specific code you will want to check out and you can get Apple’s recommendation on how to adjust your viewport settings.

The Bottom Line

Whether you are an old pro or a beginner blogger, you should consider how to best optimize your blog for the iPad.

I know many of you will have great seo ideas for tablet and mobile users and I look forward to hearing them.

How have you optimized your site for this purpose? As always, thanks for sharing.