subject: 11 Handy Tips For Successful Mobile Websites (part 3) [print this page] The growing use of smartphones and tablets has made it essential for web designers to design websites that can be accessed from small-screen devices with ease. Mobile web now plays a crucial role in the buying behaviour of customers, with 24% of Australia smartphone users taking their phones with them when shopping to research products. Moreover, almost 22% of those people change their buying decision after completing a mobile search. For businesses that are looking to capture their mobile audience, must ensure that they provide an enriching experience to the users, so that they decide in favour of their brands
Another startling fact that reminds us about the significance of designing mobile-friendly websites is that around 60% of mobile users are unlikely to return to a website that they had trouble accessing from their mobile phones. In order to ensure that your mobile audience gets superior browsing experience on your site, it is vital to know essential development and design tips for mobile websites -
1.Use single column page layout - Considering the small screen size of mobile phones, normal website cannot be read easily. Users have to zoom in and scroll both vertically and horizontally to read the content on the web page. A single column page structure is ideal in this situation as such a page would fit perfectly on small screens and the user will only have to scroll vertically.
2.Make important links big enough for a fingertip - Having small text links on web pages is acceptable when the site is being viewed on a desktop or laptop. However, in small screen devices, it becomes difficult to tap small links with a finger, which is relatively broader that the cursor of a mouse.
3.Do not use hover styles - If you use hover style in mobile website design, it will not display when finger is getting close to touching. Rather, it will display when you have actually clicked it with your finger and would remain on the screen even after you have removed your finger from it. This style interrupts the viewing experience of the users, so you must avoid it.
4.Use CSS3 to reduce load time - Mobile Internet connections are relatively slower than the others. This is why most websites take longer time to load on mobile devices. Using CSS3, instead of images for gradients and rounded corners, can significantly reduce the loading time of the website.
5.Use valid markup - There is no one mobile web browser from which users may be accessing your mobile site. It is important to use the right code validates that is clean and simple.
6.Simplify the content - Straightforward, simple, to-the-point content is ideal for mobile websites. The limited screen space makes it imperative to have the content that gives the desired information to the users, without playing too much with words.
7.Get rid of bells & whistles in design - Minimalistic design is also crucial for a mobile website design. Any design element that may make the site look beautiful but doesnt add any functionality is simply unnecessary and you should get rid of all those elements for your mobile website.
8.Place the navigation menu on top or bottom of the page - When working on the positioning of the navigation menu, it is important to first understand the browsing behaviour of your audience. For users who want to move on to new content quickly, navigation menu at the bottom of the page works best. For those who want to reach a particular service/category, would prefer the menu to be on top of the page.
9.Use text links - Using dynamic page elements and graphics make the website look visually appealing, but in the context of mobile users, these factors reduce the usability of the site. This is why using big text links is the best way to improve the performance of the site and help users navigate easily.
10.Do not use pop-ups or Flash - Pop-ups are always annoying and using them for small-screen websites can have unfavourable reactions from the users. This is so because pop-ups hinder the reading and browsing experience of the users and they are instigated to quit the site. Another factor that reduces the usability of the site is Flash. Most mobile browsers do not support Flash because it increases the load time of the site.
11.Allow the users to access standard website -As a mobile website cannot include all the elements of the standard website, you should include a link on your mobile site so that users can switch to the full website, if need be.
Mobile web design is here to stay. If you havent optimised your website for the mobile web users, you may be losing out a lot of web traffic.
