These days, it almost essential for companies to have a mobile version of their website. In 2013 there are 1.2 billion people accessing the internet using mobile devices. Company bosses are slowly coming round to the idea of mobile content, and when 15% of all the global internet traffic is on mobile, they would be foolish to ignore it. This figure is only likely to increase, with half a billion tablets predicted to be shipped in the next year.
So with a quarter of all searches being made on a mobile device, what are the advantages of owning a mobile version of your website? Well quite simply, it makes potential customers more likely to engage with your brand while on the move. 61% of consumers have a better opinion of a brand when they have an effective mobile website. Not only that, but having a website that is easy to access on a mobile phone is likely to improve your conversions for customers who use these devices. If you own a local business, this could be even more important as most smart phone users use local search apps, such as yell, to locate businesses in their area.
So what are the essential attributes of an effective mobile website? Here are some essential design features that a mobile website should have:
- Keep it simple and easy to navigate
- Keep the loading times down to a minimum
- Reduce the amount of data, which allows faster loading times and navigation
- Be concise; allowing customer to understand the content on the page at a glance
- Brand it; make the colours and logos consistent with the company’s brand
- Don’t over crowd; Having too much data on the screen can put a user off.
- …
Hang on a minute! These are all essential features that a desktop website should have as well.
The number one priority when designing your website should be user experience. Not only will this improve your conversion rates, it is becoming more and more important for the purposes of SEO as well. Easy navigation and load speeds are now major factors that search engines use when indexing a website. So why are they being overlooked?
What can be done Vs. What should be done
As a web designer, it can be tempting to go overboard with the design. This can include cluttering the homepage to show off all the services the company offers, to fancy animations at every opportunity. It is important to keep your website simple and easy to understand. If you want animation, have it appropriately placed in a way that will make your company look more professional. If it slows your website down too much then it will have a drastic effect on your sales.
A user will typically spend 3 seconds deciding if your website can offer them the services they require. If they cannot find it then they may look elsewhere. So keep your website simple and easy to navigate, with essential information easy to find… just like on a mobile website.
Posted on Friday, October 25th, 2013 in Web Design.
