Many people access information via their smartphones, so ensuring you have a mobile-friendly website is essential. However, unlike web design for desktop applications, the mobile-friendly design has to tackle a range of other elements, so it has concise and straightforward information that is digestible on mobile devices.
Take a look at our top tips on designing a mobile-friendly website:
Keep it concise
Websites typically have many landing pages. However, when someone is scrolling a website on their phone, this can become overcomplicated. Design a mobile site with the least amount of swipes or taps as possible without scrimping on the important content.
Keep it simple
Simplicity is key to creating a user-friendly mobile website. Too much information will overwhelm the user, and the layout, navigation, and design all need to take a simple approach. There’s not much space to utilise on a smartphone screen, so don’t cram it with content to ensure file size and load times are reduced.
Define the user path
Most people don’t take the same user journey as they would on a desktop. You need to consider what a visitor looks for when they visit a mobile website and have this as a prominent feature. Elements such as click-throughs on phone numbers, email addresses, or online bookings are more likely to happen on mobile devices, so optimising your website for this can help improve conversion rates.
Keep text input short and sweet
If you have forms on your site, thinking about how many text input fields they have is crucial. Typing on tablets and smartphones is more laborious, so avoid getting visitors to input too much information. Forms should be concise, simple, and user friendly.
Simple navigation
While a desktop website may have an extensive menu, on mobile, this can cause layout and UX issues. On a mobile site, organise your navigation in a simple way, such as a collapsible menu or a single-column structure to eliminate problems.
Branding consistency
When a prospective customer visits your website, you will want them to know that it’s your brand they’re looking at. When mobile sites are developed, simplicity can sometimes deter from your company branding or message. It is vital to keep everything consistent, so it matches your desktop version. Make it recognisable with your colours, logo, and styling. There is always a way to bring your company branding into line across all platforms without it affecting the user experience.
Think about resolution and mobile compatibility
There’s nothing worse than clicking through to a website to be met with a fuzzy resolution and tiny writing. If you need to include a lot of content, redirect them to the desktop version; otherwise, visitors will just leave the site altogether.
Test your mobile layout on different devices. There are countless smartphones and tablets with different operating systems on the market, so make sure they all work well and clearly.
The overriding aspect of mobile-friendly website design is simplicity and conciseness. This not only makes it easier for your visitors to navigate but also your developers to design.
