How simple is it to view your company’s website on a 2.5-by-3.75-inch screen?

Web design experts around the globe agree that mobile devices are a must-have. However, if your site doesn’t look as great on a mobile device as it does on a desktop computer, you’re missing out on traffic, leads, and sales opportunities.

Must-Follow Mobile Web Design Tips

With the right mobile web design, your site can enhance customer engagement and give you a competitive advantage regardless of screen size.

People love to use mobile devices. In 2008, mobile browsing only represented 0.9 percent of the worldwide internet traffic, according to a 2013 Internet Trends report by Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers (KPCB). This number grew to 15 percent in 2013. Analysts predict that mobile traffic will only continue to increase through 2014.

Interestingly, KPCB found that individuals spend more time on their mobile devices than organizations spend on their advertising budgets, creating $20 billion in business opportunities that most companies aren’t tapping into.

According to KISSmetrics, companies can increase customer engagement by up to 85 percent and boost sales, on average, by up to 51 percent by having a mobile website.

KPCB’s researchers concluded when people use mobile devices to communicate and socialize, they feel more sentimentally connected, excited, curious, interested, and productive. This may help explain the significant increase in engagement and sales via mobile.

With the ongoing rise in mobile web traffic and the emotional connection that consumers feel when they access the internet using a mobile device, it’s increasingly important to have a mobile version of your company’s website.

Screen Size and Detect Codes

Use the screen sizes of mobile devices to drive the layout and mobile web design of your site. Ideally, you should use a single-column layout that only scrolls up and down, not side to side.

Instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach to your layout, have your web designer use good detect codes that automatically update to accommodate the new devices released on the market.

Device detection codes offer the end user speed and efficiency while optimizing the site’s layout based on the device used.

Load Times

If your mobile site takes a long time to load, a visitor will quickly lose interest and leave. To reduce the load time:

  • Keep your company’s logo attractive and small. Aim for a high-resolution, quality graphic to ensure that it looks great on devices with high-definition displays.
  • Don’t include unnecessary graphics and images, especially if they’re not value-added content.
  • Avoid including videos or animations on the main pages and on mobile landing pages.

The best mobile sites are those that are simple to navigate, so buttons and links should be simple to select using a touch screen. Strategically include and place buttons so a visitor can provide their email address, submit a survey, connect via a social media channel, or contact your company.

Make the website’s navigation bar easy to find, preferably at the top of the page. In the navigation bar, include links to the home page, contact information and any other main pages you want to call attention to.

Give visitors the option to view your full site, typically with a link near the bottom of the mobile version. Some individuals prefer to view full websites on their mobile devices. In some instances, a mobile device may not display a mobile site properly.

Content

Visitors view a company’s full website for the content that it offers. Therefore, the content that you offer on a mobile site should reflect that of your full site.

Mobile users typically don’t spend as much time on a website when viewing it on their mobile device. The trick is to offer condensed versions of the content offered on the full site, but keep the important value points. To do this, you may have to:

  • Reduce the number of graphics that you use, as well as their size.
  • Reduce word counts.
  • Highlight only your prime service or product pages.

When choosing the most important information from your website to use on the mobile version, you must understand the goals of your visitors and the needs of your end-users.

For example, are they on your site for fun or are they doing research? Do they want to make a purchase or simply want to check on the status of something?

Start by identifying the elements of your full site that are most useful and important to your visitors. Replicate the content on your mobile site while catering to the opportunities and limitations of mobile.

Content that should always be added to a mobile site include your company’s core services, product pages, contact information and, if you have a brick-and-mortar location, your phone number and address.

When creating the web design for a mobile site, it’s essential to know what businesses or services make your company successful. When you know this, you can create a more personalized and valuable experience for your visitors.