When it comes to web development, having an optimized mobile site can be the deciding factor in a consumer’s mind between you and your competition. Today we’ll take a brief look at what they are, why they matter and what you can do to make your website more mobile-friendly.
What Is a Mobile-Friendly Website ?
We’ve all seen the websites that just show the full desktop version on your phone and we all immediately clicked away, whether because it seemed sketchy, or because it was just too hard to navigate. Most customers are likely to have had a similar experience.
It will come as no surprise that mobile-friendly websites are created and optimized with the mobile user experience in mind. Attractive, simple design, large user friendly buttons, simple color schemes, and easy-to-read fonts are just a few key factors that go into an optimized website design.
Why You Should Create a Mobile Friendly Website
They provide a more user-friendly experience
Consumers prefer websites that are easy to use and attractive to look at. Most consumers these days prefer using a smartphone or tablet over a computer. Because of that, if a website is not well-designed, they’re significantly more likely to navigate away from that site. Investing in web development ensures your website can work well and look good on any device it’s accessed from, keeping consumers engaged longer.
They lead to higher sales
Speaking of engagement, having a clear and easy-to-understand website keeps customers engaged longer overall. This is key, because the more time they spend on your site, the more likely they are to purchase a product or service from you.
Cheap and easy way to boost SEO and visibility
Google has made it clear beyond the shadow of a doubt that having an optimized website is an absolute necessity. So much so, that websites that aren’t optimized will rarely if ever show up in search results without a lot of work. Reformatting your site is one of the best things you can do as far as web development goes to boost your site in Google’s ranking system, and drive more business to your site overall.
How to create a mobile friendly website
So you know why you need it, now what? How do you go about creating a professional, mobile friendly website on your own?
First, check if your website is already mobile friendly
It’s possible that you may not need to do much if any work at all. Google has free web development tools, like their mobile-friendly testing tool, which can tell you definitively if your website is mobile-friendly. In addition, they provide you with a screenshot showing what your site looks like on a mobile device, and give you tips on making changes that can help make improvements to your site overall.
Next, find the right template and keep it simple
Web development tools such as Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, GoDaddy, and more, have tons of great templates that easily translate from desktop to mobile. However, you still need to be mindful of which design you choose and how you use them, if you want your site to perform at peak performance. Keep your color palette and fonts simple, keep your lines clean, and stay consistent in your design style from page to page. Finally, keep important information, including hours of operations, contact information, location, etc., somewhere consumers can quickly and easily find it. Having clean and clear information can make your customers’ lives (and yours) much easier.
Remove flash animations
Animations are cool and exciting, and can be a really great tool to keep customers engaged on your website. However, Adobe Flash is obsolete, and using animations can overcomplicate things. If you’re absolutely set on using animations, look into web development tools that are more compatible, like html. However, unless you really know what you’re doing, it can be pretty tricky to get them to work the same across all platforms. It’s better to just do without any animations and avoid the headache.
Change button sizes
Make it finger friendly! Consider the apps on your smartphone. They have big bright icons that are easy for fingers to hit. When it comes to your website the same should be kept in mind. After all, a big button with a phone icon is much easier to click on than a hyperlink under “call here”.
Test regularly
Finally, take the time to regularly perform check-ups on your mobile site to ensure it’s still running smoothly. It’s tempting to just set it and forget it, but with the ever-changing nature of the internet, websites really need to be checked on often, so don’t neglect this step. Web development isn’t something many business owners think about on a daily basis, but your website could quickly fall from grace in Google’s rankings because of changes made to their algorithm, without you noticing.
Need Help Building Your Website?
At the end of the day, you want to give your users the best possible experience, and optimizing your website is one of the first key steps in doing so. Whether you are a small or new business owner, or simply trying to bring your current website into the modern era, optimizing your own website can be an overwhelming task. When it comes to web development it can feel like you’re in over your head pretty quickly. Thankfully, our team here at Blue Ridge Media Company is ready to help. Give us a call at (216) 233-3009 or visit our website for a quote today.
