Best Practices for Mobile Optimized Websites
Is your business prepared for accelerated global adoption of mobile devices?
Does your business have a mobile optimized website? Does it fit properly onto a tablet - in any direction? And is optimized for customers using smartphones? Just because you can see your desktop site on a mobile phone doesn't mean it's mobile friendly. But with the mobile web emerging as the primary channel to receive and disseminate information, it should be. Recently, I read an online piece by Todd Wasserman entitled Why Your Business Needs a Mobile Website Right Now that not only prompted me comment, but also made me wonder just how few businesses are prepared.
I’ll bet few realize that by 2013, smartphones and tablets are projected to surpass PCs as the preferred devices to browse the Internet (Source: Gartner, 2000), or that in the past year alone, mobile searches have grown by 4x (Source: Google, 2011). In fact, at any given moment, 64% of the people surfing the web are using their mobile phones to do so.
Are you aware just how many customers are looking for you on their phones right now? What do they see? To help you prepare, I’ve included a list of current best practices in mobile website optimization:
Keep It Quick
Mobile users are predominately task-driven and often short on time. Design your site to load fast and be predictable – giving the users what they expect.
- Prioritize the content and features that mobile users need most.
- Reduce large blocks of text and use bullet points for easy reading.
Simplify Navigation
Clear navigation and search functionality will help your customers easily find what they need.
- Minimize scrolling and keep it vertical only
- Use a clear hierarchy in menus and avoid rollovers.
- Help users navigate between levels with clear back and home buttons.
- Use seven links or fewer per page of navigation.
Be Thumb-Friendly
People use their fingers to operate mobile devices. Design your site using large, centered buttons and give them breathing room to reduce accidental clicks.
- Pad smaller buttons to increase the clickable area.
Design for Visibility
Make it easy for your customers to read.
- Create contrast between background and text.
- Make sure content fits on screen and can be read without pinching and zooming.
- Use plenty of negative space.
- Use size and color to indicate link/button priority.
- Use 3-D effects and shadowing for buttons.
Make it Accessible
Ideally, your mobile site should work across all mobile devices.
- Find alternatives to flash - it does not work on some devices
- Use HTML 5 for interactivity and animation
- Adapt your site for both vertical and horizontal orientations.
- Keep users in the same place when they change orientation.
Make it Easy to Convert
Your customers need to be able accomplish their objective with the virtual keyboard and no mouse.
- Focus on information that will aid conversation
- Reduce the number of steps needed to accomplish a particular task
- Keep forms short and use the fewest number of fields possible
- Use click-to-call functionality for all phone numbers
Make it Local
Include functionality that helps people find and get to you.
- Have your address or locations on the landing page.
- Include maps and directions. Use GPS to personalize when possible.
Use Mobile Site Redirects
A mobile site redirect is code that can automatically tell if visitors are using a mobile device and send them to the mobile friendly version of your site. Have your site developer implement one so your customers get the best version of your site for their needs.
- Give users a choice to go back to the desktop site, but make it easy to return to the mobile site.
- Include key information, such as your address, on the redirect page.
Learn, Listen and Iterate
Good mobile sites are user centric, which means they are built with input from your audience. Ask your desktop site users what they want in a mobile website and make testing and optimization an ongoing process.
- Use analytics to understand how people use your site.
- Iterate often and continuously improve your site based on your user feedback.
Prepare for Global Adoption of Mobile Communications
Users expect their mobile experience to be as good as their destop experience. After all, 60% of users expect mobile sites to load in three seconds or less, and more than half are not willing to recommend a business with a bad mobile site. (Source: Compuware, "what users want from mobile," 2011). Contact Tom Caswell to find out if your business is prepared for the global adoption of mobile devices.
Are you in the healthcare industry? Register for our free webinar on how you can prepare your hospital or practice for the widespread adoption of mobile devices.
