Mobile web design is simply the art of designing a website that would fit smaller screens such as mobile devices. Although regular websites can be viewed on mobile devices, the fonts and images are not as visible as websites specifically designed for mobile.
By 2013, more and more people will be using mobile phones than their pc to access information on the Internet. Therefore, it is crucial for any business that benefits on the Internet to build a website designed for mobile devices.
6 Mobile Web Design Tips
Mobile Web Design Tip Number 1
It should load fast and it should be easy to read on mobile screens. – Mobile users use their mobile phones to access basic information because they want that information in as fast as they can. According to a study made by Compuware about “What Users Want from Their Mobile Site” 60% of mobile users expect a web page to load in 3 seconds or less and they can only wait for a maximum of 5 seconds. If it’s going to take longer than that, they leave the website and open up another site.
- Compress images for your mobile website to load faster and use bullet points for easy reading.
Mobile Web Design Tip Number 2
Keep it simple to navigate. – Everyone wants to know where they have been and where they should be going. Avoid confusing mobile users. Your customers will appreciate it if the important information on your mobile website is easy to find.
- Minimize scrolling in as much as you can and keep it either vertical or horizontal. Don’t use both.
- Help your visitors easily navigate your mobile website with a clear Home and Back button.
- On complex sites, put a search box and make sure that it is clearly visible.
Mobile Web Design Tip Number 3
Make it thumb-friendly – A good mobile web design should have buttons or links that are big enough to fit normal to big thumbs so that users can easily interact with it.
- Make use of large buttons with enough room to avoid accidental clicks.
Mobile Web Design Tip No. 4
Make it visible – Remember to keep everything on your mobile website visible. Remember that a user could be in a dark place while browsing the Internet.
- Be sure to create a good contrast between your background and your text.
- Make sure that your page content fits the screen without your visitor having to zoom in.
- Use plenty of blank space.
Mobile Web Design Tip No. 5
Make it accessible – Search engines find it hard to read Flash animations and websites with Flash content is not accessible on most mobile devices.
- Use HTML 5 instead of Flash content.
Mobile Web Design Tip No. 6
Focus on conversion – Do not clutter your mobile website with content that only aims to impress your visitors but focus on content that will convert them to buy your product or contact you.
- Product details, location, and contact numbers are the most important information you should have on your mobile website and make sure that they are easily accessible by reducing the number of steps to get to them.
- If your visitor needs to fill up forms, make sure that the forms are short with minimal fields including only the most important information needed.
- Use check boxes and scroll menus to enter data easily.
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Thanks
I agree with all your points. I think speed especially is a huge deal. You can do all of these right but if your site fails to load in time, what’s on the site matters a lot less.
I like point 3, keeping it thumb friendly. One thing I HATE about browsing normal sites on a mobile device is the hard time I have clicking regular links and navigation buttons. Mobile sites usually have this taken care of.
Great blog BTW!
Thanks!
I agree speed is everything when creating a mobile site. I like simple HTML/PHP sites because they are fast. I have yet to play with WP mobile sites but hopefully can design or find something fast.
I just had the problem with small link buttons the other day on my iPhone. It drove me nuts!
Thanks for stopping by.
Great tips on mobile website designing. the coming era is mobile era and
majority of users are going to access the internet via mobile so this
post really help the companies to build a great mobile website to
sustain in their businesses.
I agree! Mobile search is up 400%! That’s crazy!
mm… Maybe you took it for granted in the article, but as a seventh tip I would add striving for using responsive design on your site to avoid the need of creating a separate mobile version of the same. It’s a real time-saver.
I agree that responsive is always a good way to go but sometimes a client might just need a slim 1-3 page site. They might not want to invest in redoing their website.
Thank you for providing these useful tips in designing mobile-friendly websites. Many experts have predicted that the future lies in mobile. Therefore, it is essential for business owners to develop a suitable mobile strategy to tap into this growing customer base.
While designing a mobile website, designers should test the site on various browsers platforms (Windows 7, Windows XP, Linux, etc.) and devices (Mac, PC, tablets, cell phones,) etc. Thanks for sharing this valuable information.