Over the past month, I’ve been shopping on mobile more than usual. The bulk of my shopping has been on Amazon and Walmart, but I’ve had the chance to browse smaller websites for friends and family. This has opened my eyes to the types of websites that other businesses have – and the feedback isn’t all positive.
As an example, I was shopping for candle warmers through a smaller business. A Facebook ad caught my interest, and the prices were great. I clicked on the ad and was directed to the sale page on the website – so far, so good.
Unfortunately, things quickly went downhill. Any time I scrolled too far, I was brought back to Facebook. There was no cart button in the upper right hand corner, the pictures and descriptions were lacking and I couldn’t check out as a guest. In the end, I gave up a good product and good pricing because of a poor mobile experience.
How to Optimize Your Website for Mobile
Mobile-friendly websites are more important than ever. Here are seven ways to improve the mobile-friendliness of your site – and keep your customers.
1. Use a responsive design. Don’t build a separate mobile-friendly site. Choose a responsive design that adapts to all screen sizes. This way, you can deliver an enjoyable, professional experience for users no matter which device they are on.
2. Choose large font and button sizes. Your website needs to be comfortable to read and use, so choose your font and button sizes wisely. Font size should be at least 14px. For buttons, the bigger the better. Users should be able to tap once to complete the action.
3. Add high-resolution images. With a responsive design, your images will adapt to the screen. But, you should still choose high-resolution images that look crisp and clear. A blurry or pixelated photo can hurt the mobile experience.
4. Include a YouTube video. If you want to include a video on your website, do it through YouTube. The embed code is already responsive, so users will have an easier time loading and watching the video. Plus, it saves you time from having to optimize the video.
5. Offer the option to visit your full site. At the bottom of your mobile design, include “go to full website” or “view desktop version.” This gives users the option to go to your website and get the full experience, which they may prefer if they are in the earlier stages of the funnel.
6. Include a viewport meta tag. The viewport is a virtual space used by the web browser to determine how content should be scaled and sized. Use this code when building a multi-device experience because you want the browser to scale the page to fit the mobile design.
7. Continue testing your design. A website needs constant attention. Test out your design on multiple devices and put yourself in a user’s position. Try the buttons, read the copy and look at the pictures. Is there anything that can be changed?
With 2019 right around the corner, you don’t want to lose customers due to a poor mobile user experience. Follow our seven tips above to make your website more friendly and less cumbersome on mobile devices.
