An effective and user-friendly Mobile Site is fast becoming an increasingly vital part of any Small Business’s Marketing strategy. While Mobile Responsive Websites may have once been reserved for the technically talented, we now know that over half of Google’s global searches are made from Mobile devices, which means if your Website or eCommerce store is not responsive on a Mobile Phone, you’re losing Customers and money!
Furthermore, adjustments to Google’s algorithm mean that a Mobile friendly Website benefits from potential ranking boosts in Google, placing them more firmly in the eyeline of your target Customers.
Having a Mobile responsive Web design is now more important than ever for Small Business Owners wanting to appeal to the largest possible audience and keep their Site visitors happy.
So, it’s time to listen up! How can you alter or create a Site with the perfect Customer-enticing, Mobile responsive Web design? We’ve got the answers. Read on to ensure that you never stray too far from the correct path when negotiating the world of Mobile Website design, so you can obtain more Customers and revenue.
Mobile-Friendly Vs Mobile-Responsive
You may have heard a couple of phrases when it comes to Mobile Websites. Mobile-friendly might be one, and Mobile-responsive may have come to your attention at some point as well. Your first instinct might be that they mean the same thing. But actually, they don’t! And it’s something you’re going to need to consider when looking into a Mobile first Website design.
So, let’s break down the differences, shall we?
- Mobile-Friendly eCommerce Store or Website:
A Mobile-Friendly Website/Store has the pages you would normally see on a desktop, shrunken-down to fit a Mobile view. This means Mobile users are able to view, browse, and use your Site, but a con can be that it’s not necessarily user-friendly. User Experience usually gets put on the back burner with a Mobile-Friendly Site, and visitors can experience dissatisfaction with design elements not always being a perfect fit for the Mobile Device.
- Mobile-Responsive eCommerce Store or Website:
And what is responsive Web design? When a Website or Online Store is Mobile-responsive, its pages have been reformatted to reproduce what visitors will normally experience on the desktop. Compared to the shrinking method of a Mobile-Friendly version, the elements of your Site are reformatted for a more seamless User Experience.
While both have their pros and cons, a dedicated Mobile-responsive Site allows you to create an Online experience that is perfectly suited to your target audience’s needs and requirements.
Now that it’s a bit clearer for you, let’s dive into the features your Mobile Site should include to ensure your Customers are getting the best experience (and purchasing your products or service!)
1. Space is at a Premium
One thing to focus on is the space your Site has on a Mobile Device. Naturally, it’s a lot smaller than a regular desktop! It means that you, or if you’ve employed the help of Website/Graphic Designers, are now tasked with the difficult job of producing a Website or Online Store that conveys the same message and ethos in just a fraction of the space. Anything that appears cluttered or difficult to read on Mobile will only serve to turn users off, making it vital that you keep your Mobile content clean and simple!
If you’re looking to free up space when redesigning a web page, try removing banners and navigation bars. While these serve a legitimate purpose for desktop browsers, keeping them in Mobile layouts means you’ll be sacrificing a large amount of space.
Although banners do promote brand awareness, on reduced screen sizes they can come at the expense of other content.
Consider which areas of your Site you can alter and add space to, ensuring your Mobile eCommerce Store design is a delight for your Customers’s eyes and brain!
2. Get Your Visuals Right
Images and videos are great elements for engaging your Site visitors, due to their easily consumable and visually appealing nature. They have the ability to break up walls of text and produce an instant ‘wow’ factor! However, these visuals do come with their own set of unique challenges when it comes to creating a responsive Web Store design.
While the general rule of thumb with banners and navigation bars is to minimise wherever possible to create space, the opposite is generally the case when it comes to images and videos on Mobile Sites. An image that displays at 20% of display width on Desktop is going to be reduced to a miniscule size if displayed at the same dimensions on Mobile. Likewise, a video at the same dimensions is going to become nigh impossible to operate properly.
In the same way that space-eating banners can deter users, improperly sized images and videos, which can cause excessive load times, will definitely make Customers think twice about visiting your Mobile Site!
3. Copywriting to Entice Customers
Pretty images and colours are always lovely for your Site, and need to be a focus for Mobile Web designs, but on’t forget about the words! They’re doing more than filling space, they’re representing your brand and encouraging your visitors to take action. Whether that be to buy a product, book a service, or enter their details.
You’ll need to define exactly what you want users to do when they visit your Mobile-Friendly or responsive Website. Mobile users are goal oriented, so it’s integral to get your main points of your business across, while urging them to convert. This can be achieved with clear CTAs (Calls to Action).
Use bold, clear lettering and coloured buttons with powerful CTA language to get your visitors to click!
CTAs such as ‘get a quote’, ‘buy now’, or ‘subscribe’ are concise and strong for your audience.
The copywriting you craft is integral for both a responsive Website or if you’re selling wares and require an eCommerce responsive design.
4. Optimised Speed
Do you know how impatient people have become? Pretty darn impatient! Only half of Web users will wait a maximum of 15 seconds for a Site to load. In fact, more that 44% of users will leave a Website if it takes more than 3 seconds. Wild, huh?
You simply cannot sleep on speed! Zoom your way into the hearts of Cutomers (not to mention Google’s as well, since they will put you higher in the Search Engine Results Pages with a fast Mobile Site).
This also links back to the visual elements of your Mobile Site design! Images and animations can have detrimental effects on both the load time of the Site and the user’s battery life, so use them sparingly for best effect.
5. Seamless User Experience
If your Customer isn’t happy with your Site, they’re not happy with your brand. And chances are you may never see them again. It’s a very big problem, and that’s why providing the best User Experience is key.
A large part of this is navigation. It’s one of the biggest factors in determining your responsive Site’s success.
You need to ensure you’re catering to the needs of your visitors by integrating an easy to locate navigation bar, a search bar and other important elements.
In this digital age the three horizontal dashes of the hamburger menu are as ubiquitous as the roadside stop sign, and users will instantly know where to find navigational options. It also allows you to free up space for text or visuals.
Icons are also now a commonplace feature, and make for another fantastic menu option to allow users to move through the Site quickly and efficiently.
Most Small Businesses still aren’t giving Mobile the time and attention it deserves. But with the volume of Mobile searches booming, it’s definitely time to jump aboard! It’s now more important than ever to consider Mobile as an integral part of your Digital Marketing efforts and use the above practices to totally maximise your Online Success!