With the advent and proliferation of smartphones on the rise in recent years, one needs to have an online identity that is aligned to the mobile revolution.
A company can present tons of stats and numbers for proving the increased use of mobile devices but nearly everyone knows that the times are changing drastically. With millions of people already using smartphones, every business needs to optimize their mobile strategy for reaping success in days to come.
Here are the top tips to make your website mobile-friendly:
1. Make your site Responsive
Responsive sites are a must in today's tech scenario. One needs to make sure that the website is optimized for smartphone and tablet use. Every user must find it easy to access your website from different platforms and also simple to navigate by being flexible with resolutions and dimensions. The site screen should adjust to the device being used, or else one can guarantee that the visitors are bound to bounce from the site itself.
The contact buttons need to be mobile optimized too. Make phone numbers clickable so that people can contact you by a single click.
2. Relevance of website
Creating a page for your website is not the same as rendering similar on different platforms. What one might see on the desktop may not be seen on the mobile phone. It might require a single scroll on the desktop to browse through the site but on mobiles, the site might need a good amount of scrolling.
One should nearly always display the most important, relevant information at the top. If a person has to scroll through tons of information, they might be prompted to leave.
Keep landing pages short and simple so that the user sees the purchase button and the product right away.
3. Make it Legible
Make the site legible enough since not everyone owns a smartphone that is as big as a small computer, so the buttons and text should be clear enough. A font no smaller than 14 point is good enough but the selection of a good font is important too.
The buttons need to be of appropriate size as well or else the users might feel cheated if their click only redirected them to the wrong page. It is frustrating for them to try to click on a certain link only to reach somewhere they did not intend to go to.
4. Test and Improve
Always test the website before the launch on different platforms and gadgets. Additionally every brand's gadgets might render the site differently. Try out the most phones with older platforms versions too to make sure that the site is being rendered satisfactorily with no loss of information. Let the testers convey what they are struggling with.
Launching of the site is not the end. It is not yet a finished product and there might be consistent changes and corrections to the same. One should find new ways to make the site more mobile friendly.
5. Identify basic needs of customers
While creating a responsive website, the main goal is to delight customers with what they are expecting from your site. Ensure easy navigation for a flawless experience for mobile visitors.
6. Get a clear picture of competitor sites
It is better to opt for a chosen approach but it is also good to fetch ideas from your competitors before your mobile site creation process. References help in boosting creativity and also to understand new trends and patterns in contemporary design. With unique ideas, one can make sure that their site is aligned with the very best, to make an impression.
7. Don't forget to incorporate eye-catchy design with a working search box
Since mobile devices mostly have smaller screen sizes, it is not easy to navigate a site there. Here, search box comes handy since they can retrieve results, saving the users from the hassles of spending time on accessing relevant information. This feature will help boost your website's mobile experience considerably.
8. Maintain consistency in web design
You might be required to alter design layout or set content according to the needs of your mobile website; but make sure that you maintain consistency across multiple platforms and devices. Also, make sure that the content and design is aligned to the brand too. The mobile design shouldn't look alien when compared to the overall website rendered on the desktop.
9. Keep text input to a minimum
Do not force text everywhere on a mobile device as most people will feel text input to be big hassle. The text and the text input should be as minimal as possible.
Final Verdict
These hand-picked tips and best practices will help designers to create brilliant mobile-friendly websites that can surely make an impression.
Author Bio
Keval Padia is a Founder & CEO of Nimblechapps, a fast-growing iOS app development company. The current innovation and updates of the field lures him to express his views and thoughts on certain topics.
