With more people than ever viewing the web from their smartphones, it’s essential to optimize your site for the best visitor experience.
The mental image of Internet traffic being mostly comprised of nerdy guys hunched over their desktop computers in their parents’ basement couldn’t be more outdated. These days, billions of people use the Internet every day, whether for casual browsing, business or a little bit of both.
Besides public perception, another major way the Internet has changed is the way viewers are visiting your site, especially with the prevalence of mobile phone usage. Statistics show more and more clearly that reaching consumers via smartphone is important to your company’s success:
80% of consumers use mobile devices for online shopping
64% of smartphone owners shop online with their mobile devices
25% of online shoppers make their purchases exclusively via mobile devices
It’s clear that optimizing your site to perform beautifully on mobile devices is an important part of doing business in today’s economy. Here are five ways to improve your site’s look and feel on smartphones.
1. Improve Your Layout
“Location location location” doesn’t apply only to real estate. Think about the size of the viewing area on a smartphone compared to a computer screen and you’ll get an idea of just why layout counts for so much when optimizing sites for mobile devices. While most sites accommodate zooming in and out, that doesn’t make finding that “Buy Now!” button hidden down in the footer any more convenient to reach.
Think about the best way to arrange the most important site elements for mobile devices. By strategically designing your site specifically for viewers on the go, you’re likely to see a sales increase, as well as giving your viewers a better experience.
2. Make Content Adjustments
One of the tremendous benefits of visiting sites from mobile devices is getting instant access to information, whether that means checking prices on products or looking for a physical store in a customer’s vicinity. Allowing mobile users access to special offers and other highly usable data increases the chance that they’ll make purchase decisions on the spot.
Part of encouraging these consumer decisions is adjusting content for mobile viewers in such a way that online shopping is easier than ever, and customized to that market segment. Incentives, rewards, downloads or discounts are all great ideas for those visiting your site on a mobile device. This type of mobile marketing can deliver real results for your bottom line.
3. Focus on Quality
Recently, Google announced that mobile website quality would impact search engine rankings going forward. This is a clear sign that quality has to be a top priority in all aspects of web design, including mobile optimization. Quality site design for mobile devices includes elements such as appearance and layout, but overall refers to a high-quality user experience.
4. Simplify Like Crazy
From colour choices to font size, opting for a simpler, streamlined approach to website development is integral to a perfectly designed mobile website. One primary reason for this is because different smartphones have varying capacity in terms of screens and resolution—yet of course, you want your site to look gorgeous on all of them. The simpler your design, the better it will translate to multiple viewing platforms.
5. Check the Trends
With the tech industry changing at almost lightening-quick speeds, it’s more important than ever to stay on top of the latest mobile design trends. Keep an eye on what’s popular right now as well as what’s being touted as the next big thing for mobile optimization.
Enjoying Successful Mobile Optimization
Any site that’s not currently embracing optimization for mobile users is going to be quickly left behind. As smartphones slowly overtake the PC market as primary devices, it’s vital for companies to embrace the future of marketing: mobile optimization. Whether making mobile marketing the kingpin of your campaign or just testing the waters, there’s never been a better time to get on board than right now.
