Let’s say that your business has a brilliantly designed website. Your copy is spot-on, your pictures are eye-catching, and your site has increased online sales ever since it first went live. Your site works perfectly for users accessing it from computers, but what happens if users visit using a mobile device? Some of the best company websites don’t effectively translate onto the smaller screen – and that can affect the bottom line. There is no way around the fact that your website needs to accommodate (and capture) the rapidly growing mobile user audience in order to help your business realize its full potential and maximize your return on your investment.
A monumental shift to mobile devices
There is no way to ignore the monumental shift to mobile devices when you look at stats like these:
- 91% of all people on Earth have a mobile phone
- 56% of people own a smart phone
- 50% of mobile phone users, use mobile as their primary Internet source
- Over 1.2 billion people access the web from their mobile devices
(“Infographic: 2013 Mobile Growth Statistics,” Digital Buzz Blog, October 1, 2013)
Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets have become an integral part of how we gain access to everything from banking to restaurant reservations to our most important files. As such, users expect online experiences – from ALL websites – to be seamless.
Yet, we’ve all experienced the following on mobile devices:
- A site that won’t load quickly;
- A site that won’t load correctly;
- A site that won’t let you click on the one link you need, because the link is so tiny that when you press it, you also press the two links next to it.
What happens when you encounter a site like that? You leave, right? Well, you aren’t the only one. A recent study by Equation Research reports that 74% of consumers will abandon any webpage that does not load on their mobile device within five seconds. Additionally, according to Infographic: 2013 Mobile Growth Statistics, about 57% of users say they would not recommend a business if it has website that is poorly designed for their mobile devices. That’s quite a missed opportunity, especially when you consider that 80% of consumers plan to conduct mobile commerce within the next 12 months.
Smaller screens, smarter designs, brilliant content
An iPhone screen will never be a desktop screen. But, websites can be developed using Adaptive Web Design (AWD) or Responsive Web Design (RWD) programming techniques. These web development tools scale the website to fit the size of the screen of the visitor to make mobile and tablet surfing easier and just as functional as a desktop. Here are a few tips to consider:
Keep scale in mind: Phones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers all have different screen sizes. That means you need to work with your web developer to ensure you are using the right AWD or RWD methodology to ensure that your site will look right to all users – in all browsers — regardless of the technology accessing it.
Think minimal: What type of content does your audience need the most? Make sure that not only is that information the first thing viewers see, but that it’s easy to access. For example, if you want a sale, make the path to purchase effortless for your visitors – with a minimal number of clicks from your landing page to a completed transaction.
Copy – and its presentation – matter: First and foremost, keep your copy short and sweet. Only include information that reinforces your brand and keeps your customer as the primary focus. Additionally, use the right fonts in the right sizes – even the best copy will get lost with small cursive treatment. Artsy is not always better, especially when mobile devices rely on readability.
If you think mobile can’t get too much bigger, think again. Leading research company, Gartner, reports that mobile internet use is projected to overtake desktop internet use in the coming year. That fact alone should underline the necessity of creating a bite-sized mobile site that can stand on its own. In short, think big and scale small when it comes to your mobile users and you’ll do just fine.
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