Best Practice Tips for Mobile Web Design
We are connected to our phones. If we’ve forgotten our devices at home or in the car, a feeling of panic arises for many because, well, our phones are like a lifeline to the world these days. As such, the emphasis on creating great mobile web experiences is increasingly important for business owners who want to reach their potential clients or customers online.
A great mobile experience is all about easy and intuitive usability. Mobile users are generally goal-oriented, driven to find information about a thing or make a purchase ASAP. As such, we must create awesome experiences that are easy to navigate and don’t stifle users. Here are a few best practice tips to incorporate when creating a mobile web design:
Create distinct menu categories that make it easy for mobile web visitors to navigate through and to the information your website offers. On a phone, it is harder to scroll through a long list of options. Think about tightening up your menu structure so that users can easily find what it is they’re looking for without having to scroll, scroll down an extensive list.
Just as it is best practice in desktop design to make your logo (usually located in the left-hand corner of the web page header) a place where users can click on return to the home screen, so does this expectation apply in mobile web design. Users should be able to easily go back to the home screen without having to do any kind of trickery to get there.  When things don’t work as expected, it usually results in irritated visitors who are more likely to leave your website.
Do not interfere with navigation by having pop-up ads or promotions take over the whole screen. It’s annoying for your users, and clearly, they are on your website because they are interested in your offerings. You don’t want to bombard them with messages that will direct them away from what their initial intent was or piss them off because they can’t find what they want. Instead, strategically place calls to action on your web pages – make them prominent but don’t let them take over so as to infuriate your users.
Users should have the ability to easily search for the information they are looking for. Remember, most mobile users are goal-oriented, looking to find information on the go, quickly and on their own terms. Open text boxes that let users type in their desired info work best. This again requires, simplifying and sorting information on your end to make sure the search results that do appear are relevant and address the query specified. Having search filters in place, also helps to improve site search usability.
When users are searching for products or services via their mobile phones, they often prefer to call a business rather than go to its physical location. As such, make sure your potential customers can contact you easily with a single tap of the finger by including a call-to-click button on your mobile website.
Don’t create unnecessary roadblocks for your users who want to make a purchase. Asking your users to sign up prior to giving up the goods is like being forced to go on a blind date without knowing anything about the prospect. Most of us want to get to know even just a little bit about you first.
Some people just want to make a purchase and run. Let guests purchase from your e-commerce site rather than making them create a full-on profile. This falls in line with the previously mentioned tip of not creating unnecessary roadblocks. The more obstacles users have to go through to complete a transaction, the more likely they're going to drop out of the race early. I.e. leave your website and do not complete their purchase.
At Blue Ocean Interactive Media, our expert web designers and developers know how to make killer mobile sites. Contact us to learn more.
