Google’s search algorithm will be vouching for mobile-friendly sites and hence it is important for all businesses to optimize their website for mobile devices.
Here are some of the most important tips for mobile web design that is sure to help you gain an edge over your competition:
1) Keep Your Design Simple
One cannot design a website for the desktop and then make certain changes to convert it into a mobile version. The most important feature of having a mobile-friendly site lies in its simplicity.
One should do away with unnecessary parts and find the right balance between navigation and content so that visitors find information as fast as possible, without much effort.
2) Choose Fonts Carefully To Go With Design
Tiny screens cannot accommodate small text. So to attract visitor’s attention, make the fonts as clear as possible. Keeping them big and bold is an option but it should be simple enough to read. Avoid cursive and fancy fonts.
Use the contrast between the background and the font by opting for a balanced colour scheme and opt for vibrant colours.
3) Keep It Linear
Make it easy for visitors to navigate the site with logical directions and opt for less than three navigation levels for any site. The page content should include the option for changing pages as fast as possible. Let the headline be the first thing that your audience will see.
4) Avoid Tiny Buttons
Placing buttons too close together mostly gets the visitors to press the wrong button by accident. The size of buttons and spacing should be easy to press and well organized. The buttons should at least have a size of 50px by 50px and have any button designed for your fingers itself.
5) Keep Load Times Quick Enough
Speed is absolutely paramount for mobile websites since the users are bound to tune out of the mobile site. It is important to optimize images for maximum compression and avoid complex widgets. High-resolution videos and embedded media might look good for desktop computers.
Professional web design companies will make a mobile responsive version of existing websites.
6) Plan For Change
Users expect data accessibility everywhere and on every device. Hence designers need to plan design beyond smartphones and tablets with the help of responsive design for adapting to the volatile mobile ecosystem. Create designs that suit mobile platforms without looking to replicate the desktop designs.
7) Keep It Familiar
To avoid user abandonment, the site needs to be simple to use and without multiple marketing messages that keep visitors away. Engaging customers to find information and influencing their purchasing decisions efficiently is highly important.
8) You Care, They Share
Define target users and build website especially for them, testing the design with mobile users mostly. The site needs to be goal-oriented and the home page may function as the main page using the center as promotional space. The mobile home page should focus more on connecting users and delivering the content that they need.
9) Easy Input
Most users are on the go so the mobile Web design should work around the user’s lack of keyboard and help in their multitasking. The calls-to-action should be front and center and the home page should be accessible easily. The menu text should be precise and to the point too. Whenever possible, the users should get the content in a single window only.
10) Function And Form
Designing the most efficient forms is important with no repeat actions and use the number of fields that are necessary. Autofill and tab forward can be used to switch between the pop-up keyboard and also the screen. Use progress bars too so that the users can wait easily.
11) Switch It Up
Most users use different devices throughout and hence one should always look into recent analytics to know the latest purchasing trends. In the meantime, the experience should be made consistent across all devices so that there is no confusion.
There’s a lot of untapped potential in the mobile market and mobile web design should leverage the present trends to increase the success ratio. The savvy marketer should keep customer needs in consideration and adapt to them as possible.
12) Screen Size Matters
The main mobile device feature is the small size. One should remember the small window of opportunity and make sense of this. The site should look equally good and accessible on screens of different sizes. One should introduce changes and check on how it will render so that your design does not translate into chaos.
One should specify image size in percentage while designing and not in pixels so that one does not run the risk of breaking design, and images would not cloud the small screen.
Get rid of pop-ups, unnecessary assistants, and download invitations so that there is no annoying element that can hamper user attention in any way.
Keval Padia is a Founder & CEO of Nimblechapps. He is an iOS App Developer, with acute knowledge of Mobile Game Design and User Experience Design. His vision is to become the best iOS development company, which can transform people’s idea into fully functional application at a very affordable price.
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