Whilst many have gone through life intending to make it on the big screen, today, that’s all changed: now, it’s all about succeeding on the small screens. With over half of all web traffic coming from mobile devices, if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you need to buck up your ideas – and quickly.
To put things in perspective: a recent survey found that 57% of people would choose not to recommend a business if their site is not mobile-friendly – a number that is only set to grow. And it’s not only consumers who are demanding mobile-friendly sites; Google now uses mobile-first indexing to determine site rankings, so yeah, it’s pretty important!
If you are looking for ways to help optimise your site for use on mobile devices, here are five tips to get you started
1. Respond to change
With over 90% of consumers agreeing that they will leave a site if it doesn’t display correctly on their device, if your site isn’t responsive, you can expect to see high bounce rates and low conversions – something no business wants.
Now, you may be wondering: “What exactly is responsive web design?”. Well, in short, it’s about creating pages that work on all devices – no matter the screen size. As the name suggests, responsive web design responds to user needs and device requirements to create a seamless experience.
2. The bigger, the better
It’s no secret that mobile devices have a lot smaller screens than their desktop counterparts, so to ensure neither legibility nor usability is compromised, you need to be thinking big. Whether it’s making sure your call to action (CTA) buttons are large enough to click or ensuring your font size is of sufficient size, ultimately, it’s all about creating a pain-free experience for your visitors.
3. Succeed with simplicity
Sometimes, simplicity is key. From your site navigation and layout to forms, everything should be carefully thought out to offer an experience that is both enjoyable and allows them to complete the actions they set out to.
Some examples of best practice for mobile web design include:
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- Keeping required fields to a minimum
- Allowing autocomplete to help users fill out forms
- Limit top-level navigation to 4 – 8 items
- Prioritise key pages
- Include a search bar to allow users to easily navigate your site
- Think about using a hamburger menu to optimise space
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4. Click to call
Customers want to work with businesses they feel are reliable and easy to reach, and one of the easiest ways to help get this across to them is by implementing click to call numbers (and email addresses) throughout your site. As the name suggests, this works by allowing users to directly contact the business in question through a clickable phone number – this saves the hassle of them trying to copy and paste, or if they are more old-school, finding a pen and paper to record the number to phone it.
Again, this is all about making your user experience as seamless as possible to help drive engagement and increase satisfaction.
5. Keep it quick
Did you know that 53% of users say they will leave a website if it takes longer than three seconds to load? It may seem unreasonable, but the majority of the time, if someone is accessing a site via a mobile device, it’s because they are looking for a solution on the go or in a hurry – and for these people, a few seconds can feel like a lifetime.
So, to avoid losing any valuable prospects, here are few ways you can help to optimise the speed of your site:
- Image optimisation
- Minification
- Caching
- Web hosting
- Minimise redirects
- Prioritise loading above the fold content
With 68% of businesses with a mobile-friendly website agreeing it has led to an increase in sales, there is no doubt that this upgrade is worthy of investment. Looking for a helping hand? Contact us for a free consultation with one of our marketing experts to discover how our firm can create your business a site that sells.
