Did you know that back in 2014, the number of mobile devices surpassed the number of people in the world? And at that time only 22% used their phone first to browse the web. Since then responsive web design has been dominating the online world and compelling businesses to transform their online presence.
If you’re thinking of SEO, Google also follows mobile-first indexing which means it crawls, indexes, and ranks a website’s mobile version primarily. All these statistics demonstrate why it has become important than ever to have a robust mobile-friendly design of your website.
So, here’re five effective yet simple strategies to make your website mobile optimized.
Use a responsive theme
You may need professional help in converting your website to be mobile-friendly if you’re not accustomed to the designing techniques. In that case, using a pre-designed layout or theme would probably be your best bet. These mobile-friendly templates can do wonders in ensuring a high-quality display for mobile users. However, there’re some things you should keep in mind. For instance, you’ll have to ensure it’s well-optimized and doesn’t leave any negative impact on your site’s performance. If you’re using WordPress, the process would become highly simpler and most of the themes available in the WordPress Theme Directory are fully responsive. So, you can rest assured of having your site’s design rendered properly, regardless of the device and screen size it’s viewed on.
Keep the forms short
Consider the different forms you’ve on the site. These days, it’s not a good approach to ask your visitors for lots of information. Remember that filling out a form on a desktop or laptop is entirely different than doing so on a smartphone. So, evaluate the forms and only ask for the information that you actually need to complete a conversion (if the forms are designed for it).
Simplify the menus
Unquestionably, mobile screens are considerably smaller than those of laptops or desktops and that makes it an important consideration when it comes to converting your website to a mobile-friendly one. The menu of the desktop version can come with lots of options and be more extensive but it changes things entirely on a smaller screen. Obviously, you don’t want the visitors to zoom in and out or scroll to view all the navigation choices. Everything has to be concise and fit properly on one screen. So, make sure every option fits on a single screen and comes with a clear destination.
Focus on image size
When we’re talking about converting your website into a mobile-friendly one, the objective is to develop images that come with the smallest file size possible while still offering a crisp and clear view, regardless of the screen size they’re being viewed on. Remember, having a great website design isn’t everything when it comes to a site’s mobile-friendliness. It’s also about improving the visitors’ experience and the image load times play crucial roles in that experience. If you can shrink the file sizes, it’d consume less of the users’ data, expedite page loading, and contribute toward a positive image of the site.
Consider the elements to be included
Having a mobile-friendly design doesn’t mean exactly replicating your entire website from one device to the other. You’re trying to provide the best user experience and hence, you may need to leave some things out when someone browses your site on a considerably small screen. One idea is to condense the navigational options or menus into a button that users can open with a simple press. This can display expanded on larger screens, but on a small one, it can be opened using a single button.
Parting Thoughts
Mobile-friendly website design is a long-term strategy that you’ve to focus on. Mobile phone screen sizes will continue to evolve and your site will have to meet the needs of every device being used. By converting your website into a mobile-friendly one, you won’t need to worry about what technology comes along as your site will be prepared to keep your mobile visitors happy.
If you need more tips on making your website mobile optimized, contact Bare Bones Marketing by calling at 512-571-2296 or by emailing info@barebones-marketing.com and let’s start embracing the digital world from the eyes of a smartphone.