5 Things to Remember When You Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly

Browsing the web via mobiles is no longer the future. It is already the norm among millions of mobile users in the west and is seeing massive growth in Asia as well. With India standing second in the world in terms of the number of active mobile users in the world, the trend is only expected to swing further upward. With Google’s latest update, mobile friendliness has become a must for all websites. So, how do website owners make their websites mobile friendly?

In this article we give you five ways by which you can make your business website mobile-friendly:

1. Make sure your developer is clear on the objective

You need your website to be mobile-friendly and your developer or the development team needs to be very clear on this. This means that the website should incorporate smaller layouts and designs according to it. For this, the web developer needs to have the experience that it takes to actually see through the development process. Look for sample website that the developer has built, go through them in detail, and proceed further only if you and your team are fully convinced as to the competence of the developer concerned. 

2. Keep it simple

It’s not the time of animations and flash anymore. They are past. With customers keen to look at an app for only as much as a few seconds, you need to eschew long text and the like. Use images wherever possible, and if you need to explain something to the customer, do it through videos. Focus on the smaller but important stuff like highlighting your company logo and contact information so that the user may contact you when needed.

3. Use short forms with drop-down menus

Short forms and drop-down menus are the order of the day. They not only make the job easier for the user, they are also more attractive. Try using a long form and see how difficult it is if you have doubts. Cut the text and have radio buttons instead.

4. Focus on finger-friendly navigation

Mobile usage happens on the go. When you design your app remember that users are going to use the app when they are going out for a stroll, waiting for their train or having their lunch. So your app needs to be easy on the fingers and thumbs of the users. Make sure you have large buttons for form submission. Eschew longer menus as well.

5. Give each page a quick call to action

This is important from the usability point of view. You need to give your customers the option of taking quick actions like signing up for a subscription or downloading an eBook. Don't include call to action that are complicated.

8 Tips to Make a Mobile-Friendly Website!

A mobile-friendly website is not something to be decided upon today. Post Google’s search ranking update, it has become imperative for everyone to have a mobile-friendly website. But for those of you who have not begun it yet, there is still time left as Google’s is only a real-time dynamic update which means you can recover any lost traffic provided your website becomes mobile-friendly soon.

Making a mobile-from website is not as complex as it is made out to be. In fact, the key is in keeping it simple. Simplifying content and streamlining the design process are key to getting your strategy right. Here’s what you should remember while designing a proper mobile website.

1) Keep things simple. It is important not to use too much content on your website as it puts off users. Whenever you want to detail an issue to the user, use a video. It always clicks.

2) Choose the foremost information to include: direct means of communication (e.g. phone numbers, click-to-call function, online booking); main information about services; locations on a map. Long bios and other texts of secondary importance should be left solely for a desktop website. Include only the things your visitors are most likely to look for.

3) Users need to access the pages they need as quickly as possible, and with minimum actions. Enable easy navigation. This means users must have sufficient space so that they don't click the wrong icons or buttons.

4) Do not ask your users for too much text input. They don't like it. Not one bit.

5) Reduce the number of pages without stuffing in lot of information in one page. Ensure that your design allows your users to tap and swipe around your website easily. Also avoid excessive use of images, popup and Flash.

6) Liberally use your company logo and colours in your website. Making good use of images is an essential component of a good mobile-optimized site.

7) Keep in sight a link to the desktop website. Many visitors may want to proceed there for the information that is left out in the mobile version.

8) Check how your website works on a number of mobile devices: Smartphone’s and tablets running various platforms. Screen size is important when you’re dealing with mobiles.

These are just some of the things that you need to keep in mind as you go along. But once you get these basics right, you can rest assured your development strategy is on the right path.

How Your Mobile Website Development Should Work?

Mobile development has altered the course of technology, innovation and communication. But behind every successful app, Smartphone, and mobile website is a lot of strategising and nerve-wracking effort. Only a combination of hard-nosed designers, developers and testers along with business analysts can ensure that an efficient and different mobile app is created. This is a complicated process that involves workflows that vary from organization to organization. In this article, we look at some of the basics that your organization should stick to in order to ensure your mobile development is efficient.

1. Inspect the website

You, as the developer should make a careful study of the website’s design and content. Knowledge of the business objective, brand value and service orientation with additional plugins to be integrated would help you redesign the website if necessary. To accommodate mobile users, the major changes necessary are layout of the website and its content framework arrangement.

2. Consult with the client

Post the initial analysis, programmers would typically get back to the client and work out the preferences for the mobile website. Here you must remember that mobile devices are not like desktops. So you need to highlight the areas you want to market first, like the logo or the company’s tagline or its speciality. You need to ask the client if he wants a new image or only the featured content from the mobile website.

3. Design and execution

This is where it gets really technical and the real nitty-gritty work starts. Depending on the demands of the client, the time taken to develop the site can be anywhere between two to four days. But this really depends on the layers of programming the site requires. If the site involves complicated functionality, it would obviously take longer. Some of it also depends on the time taken for the testing of the website.

4. Final product

Once approved, you can test the mobile site live. The final product is the live mobile website. Its effectiveness can be easily monitored by the client. It is the amount of traffic it generates! Further monitoring is not necessary unless the client has asked for CMS etc.