The design of a mobile website is critical. Why? Because mobile devices are changing the way we connect and thus the way businesses operate. In fact, mobile devices now account for the vast majority of web traffic. "Mobile is becoming the new digital hub and the bridge to the physical world," Forrester Research Vice President and Principal Analyst Thomas Husson said. "As a result, mobile will transform your entire business, not just your digital operations." In other words, you require a mobile-friendly web design.
This article will teach you everything you need to know about mobile-friendly web design and show you examples. You'll also learn how to design a mobile website. Let's get started.
What is Mobile Website Design?
Let's start with a definition of mobile website design and how it works. In essence, responsive design is creating a website that automatically scales its content and elements to fit the screen size on which it is viewed. It prevents images from being larger than the screen width and saves mobile visitors from having to do extra work to read your content. The ultimate goal of responsive design is to eliminate the needless resizing, scrolling, zooming, or panning on sites that have not been optimized for different devices. It is frequently difficult to navigate these sites, which may cost you potential customers who become frustrated while attempting to figure out how to do something.
Website for mobile devices also eliminates the need to create a separate mobile website design for smartphone users. Instead of designing multiple websites for different screen sizes, you can now create a single website that automatically scales up or down to fit the device it's being viewed on.
Why Should You Spend Money on Responsive Design?
Let's take a closer look at each of the advantages to understand why you should invest in a mobile website design.
∙ Economical Viability
Keeping separate sites for your mobile and non-mobile audiences can be costly. If you use responsive design, you can save money by not having to pay for a mobile site. To appeal to all visitors and devices, you will only need to invest in a single site design.
∙ Adaptability
When you have a responsive design website, you can make changes quickly and easily. You do not have to be concerned about making changes to two websites. This flexibility is extremely useful when you need to make a quick design change or correct a typo on your website—you only have to do it once.
∙ Enhanced User Experience
Website owners must prioritize user experience. You want people to like your site, and you want it to be simple to use so that they will return. If someone visits your website on a mobile device and takes forever to load or your images are low-resolution, it can make your company appear unprofessional.
∙ Gains from Search Engine Optimization
Many businesses use search engine optimization, or SEO, to rank higher on Google's search results pages. The higher you are on the list, the more likely customers will find you. Mobile website design can help with SEO because Google prefers mobile-friendly websites. When combined with other SEO factors, responsiveness can provide a significant boost in search results.
- Ease of Administration
Most businesses, particularly smaller ones, do not have a lot of time to update or refresh the appearance of their website. Instead of hiring a designer to handle every aspect of your website, responsive design allows you to make the changes yourself quickly and easily. Furthermore, with only one website, other aspects of your marketing will be far easier to manage. You'll never have to wonder whether you should link to the mobile or desktop site in a social media update or whether all of your redirect links will work to direct the appropriate visitors to the appropriate website. Responsiveness alleviates much of the stress associated with running a business website.
Design Suggestions from the Top Mobile Websites
In this section, we'll look at eight mobile website design tips that you can use. You'll also see real-world examples from some of the best mobile websites.
1. Make Use of Big Buttons
Image is taken from Strikingly
Buttons on mobile-friendly websites must be large enough for users to tap without zooming in. There should also be some space between hyperlinks. If links are placed too close together, users may attempt to click on one and inadvertently click on another.
2. Make the Text Legible by Making it Large Enough to Read
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
This may seem self-evident, but it is critical to mobile website design. Users should never have to zoom in or scroll left or right. Make your text large enough on screen sizes so that users can easily read what you're saying.
3. Simple Menus
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
Desktop website menus take up a lot of room. They can take up an entire bar at the top of the screen and have numerous drop-down options while not interfering with the user experience. This is not the case with mobile devices because there isn't enough space. On mobile-friendly websites, simple menus that provide an overview of the website should be used. Users can then narrow their search by using categories, filters, or the search feature. To indicate a menu, most mobile website designs use the hamburger symbol, consisting of two or three horizontal lines. Users will be taken to a full-screen menu with large buttons and text when they tap the two-line hamburger menu in the top-right corner of the screen.
4. Provide a User-Friendly and Intuitive Search Function
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
The search feature on your website is especially important for mobile users. Simplified menus can facilitate mobile browsing, but they can make it difficult to find a specific item. Place the search feature in the center of the page to make it easy for users to find what they're looking for.
5. Make it Simple to Contact You
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
If a customer is looking for your contact information, they may have encountered difficulty, which means they are likely already frustrated. Make it difficult to contact you if you don't want to add insult to injury. Especially since most consumers consider customer service an essential factor in deciding whether or not to make a purchase.
6. Design Simple Forms
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
Users may be more inclined to fill out a long-form on a computer because the screen is larger, typing with a keyboard is easier. Forms on mobile devices must be shorter, with large text fields and buttons. If you want users to sign up for your mailing list, you should ask for their first name and email address. If you must include more questions, make them brief and simple.
7. Design Eye-Catching Calls to Action
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
A call-to-action (CTA) is an image, banner, or piece of text that literally invites users to take some form of action. For example, you could invite users to join your mailing list, learn more about an offer, or buy a product.
This marketing strategy is critical in mobile website design. However, it can be difficult to create compelling calls to action with such limited screen space to work with. When designing CTAs for your mobile-friendly website, place them above the fold, where users can see them without scrolling down.
8. Stay Away from Pop-ups
Image is taken from Google
Let's be honest: most people despise pop-ups. In fact, a search for "I hate pop-up ads" yields nearly 48 million results. If you do the following, your search rankings are likely to suffer:
- Show a pop-up covering the main content
- Display a standalone interstitial that the user must dismiss before accessing the main content
- Make the top of the page look like an interstitial, and put the original content underneath it
Create a Mobile Website Design with Strikingly
Strikingly lets you build a free website in minutes. To get started, you don't need to know how to code or have a degree in web design. Strikingly has a feature that allows our customers to get a mobile app to manage their website from anywhere. This is very useful for business owners and freelancers who need to check on their website regularly. Because your website is your company's online presence, you must maintain control over its status and progress. Managing your website on your mobile phone is a huge relief when you're out and about and realize you forgot to add the specifications of one item. You can work on your website while having a cup of coffee with a friend. When you build a website with Strikingly, you have two preview options and a mobile app for your website. You can get two previews of your website while in edit mode: a website mobile view and a desktop view. This way, you'll know how your visitors perceive your website on their mobile devices.
Image is taken from Strikingly
Clearly, building and managing your website with Strikingly is fun. We have a responsive mobile website design that easily adjusts your website from desktop to mobile screen without sacrificing the quality of your website's texts and images. A responsive mobile web design automatically reduces the size of your website layout to fit perfectly on smaller screens such as smartphones and tablet devices. Make it a point to include a mobile web design on your website. You don't need to be a mobile website layout design expert in using Strikingly; all you need is a creative mind. Also, don't forget to consider the tips and inspiration on how to create a mobile web design that your visitors will undoubtedly enjoy.
Conclusion
This comprehensive guide on mobile website design covers everything you need to know about creating a mobile-friendly site from the ground up. You'll be fine if you keep a few pointers in mind when designing one. Some code-related responsive website design fundamentals are difficult to grasp, but we're here to show you that there is a way to make your website automatically responsive.
