Web browsers have shrunk. While once people bragged about their 21” monitors, now 3.5” monitors are all the rage – and a website meant for one format may not fit well in another.

So how can you get your content to fit?

Here are five solutions improving from the worst.

5 – Scale It Down

The technology exists to literally shrink your page to fit almost any size. If one of your readers wants a condensed, portable version of your site, they can make do with a magnifying glass. On second thought, maybe not.

4 – Hail the Return of Ye Really, Really, Really Long Scroll

Focus on the text. It is, after all, where the bulk of your content is located. Every word is preserved; every character will still be legible. But consider, how many business cards would you have to fill in order to convey your entire message? While some documents deserve this treatment, a typical browser wants more immediate access to information.

3 – Abbreviate Your Content

You didn’t need it all anyway! Articles, prepositions, they’re just wasted space. If twitter is the wave of the future, why shouldn’t your mobile web pages look like tweets?

Well for one thing, you cannot go into depth when limiting yourself to 140 characters. For another, someone viewing only your mobile site may not realize that you even have more to say.

2 – Use Headlines and Teasers

Newspapers have been trying to fit a lot of information into a limited amount of space for years. It only stands to reason that they would come up with a few good ideas along the way. The teaser can fit onto a single screen and have enough information on its own for anyone who just wants a quick browse – giving it all the advantages of abbreviated content. At the same time, if your reader is so inclined, they can follow through to the main content. Once someone has decided for themselves that they wish to read the whole of what you have to say, scrolling becomes much more tolerable.

1 – Say it Out Loud

Even if you find a good presentation for your text, many people don’t actually want to read off of their card sized monitor. Why make them?

Sound files and video clips can include the exact same information, while requiring much less effort on the part of your audience. And when you come down to it, convenience is a large part of what drives the smartphone market.

And audiovisual media have the chance to go viral, and even they do not, a good video can compliment almost any page.

What websites do you like to visit on your mobile device?

Do you feel you are getting the whole picture, or was something omitted?