Designing with Mobile in Mind

According to statistics at The Social Skinny, there were over 1.2 billion people accessing the Internet with their mobile devices in 2012. That number has been increasing greatly since then. Trends show that people are now more likely to surf the Web on their smartphones than they are with a computer. This means that websites need to be designed with mobile devices in mind, which is different from designing sites for desktop in a lot of ways.

Even though mobile sites can serve many different purposes, there is still a checklist of things that you will need if you want your site to be successful.

Design for Devices

One of the most important things to remember when designing a mobile site is that there are several different devices in use at any given time, and you should be able to access your site on almost all of them. Whether you design your site yourself or you work with a developer, make sure that it works conveniently on multiple devices and operating systems.

Site Speed

The appeal of a mobile device is that it can be used while you’re on the move. When you are trying to look up information about nearby businesses, you need to be able to access that information quickly. Otherwise, you might miss out on important details before you set out for your destination. This means that any mobile site should be designed to load quickly. You might be able to get away with lots of elaborate bells and whistles on a full desktop site, but a mobile site should be different. It doesn’t have to be a completely bare-bones site, but function and user experience should trump form.

User Experience

Mobile sites should be designed with a positive user experience in mind. For some sites, this can mean simply being easy to use and navigate, while other sites can have things such as coupon codes and advertisements that are specific to certain locations. Some sites can even be presented as games that reward users for accessing the site and using its features, a concept known as “gamification.” In any case, you should never sacrifice site speed and accessibility for these features. If the best course of action is a simple site that can give users what they need quickly without any added features, then that’s what your mobile site should be.

SEO

Finally, any good website should be designed with SEO in mind. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it essentially means making your site easier to find through Google and other search engines. In the past, this often meant basing your web content around certain keywords and phrases that people might type into a search engine. For mobile sites, it might mean targeting users in specific regions and focusing on their specific needs. In other words, it is more about making sure your site is desirable as well as easy to find.

As you can probably tell, designing a mobile site can definitely be a challenge, but it is also a necessity for any successful business. While elaborate desktop websites will always be around, more people are accessing the Internet on smaller portable devices, and business owners everywhere need to cater to them if they are going to be successful.