5 tips for a mobile optimised website
Reinier Landstra
Designer & Marketing strategist
reading time: 6 minutes
Any online marketer wanting to engage people, will need to pay as much attention to desktop users as to mobile users. Google shares this same idea and already prioritises mobile friendly websites over non mobile friendly websites when listing search results. Having a mobile optimised website can make your company stand out. Let’s have a closer look at the importance of mobile by giving you 5 tips for a mobile optimised website.
- Chapter 11. Adapt to smartphone touchscreens
- Chapter 22. Commit to your website speed
- Chapter 33. Include micro-interactions
- Chapter 44. Keep it simple
- Chapter 55. Include a dynamic keyboard
- Chapter 6Want to know more?
1. Adapt to smartphone touchscreens
One of the main differences between mobile devices and desktops is the way they interact with its users. On smartphones, users are used to scroll with their fingertips and swiping their way around. Making your site responsive is not enough to create a fully satisfying user experience. You will need to optimise your website for touch screens. That includes adding touchscreen navigation to your mobile website. For instance, you will need to make sure that web forms, like email opt-in forms, are easy to fill in on touch screens as well.
2. Commit to your website speed
The load time of a website is even more important on mobile sites. In fact, the amount of mobile users that drop out significantly, increases if a website takes more than three seconds to load. Mobile users are merciless when it comes to load time. Luckily it is definitely possible to lower the load time of your website. Be careful when uploading videos, images, whitepapers or other content and try to keep down the file sizes. Also, make sure you apply AMP and simplify your site as much as possible. With AMP you minimise the styling of your website, leading to a flat and fast site. When designing your website, think of yourself being one of those visitors. Don’t we all get annoyed by slow and heavy videos played automatically when entering a home page?
3. Include micro-interactions
Micro-interactions can be found all over your mobile device. Although most of us won’t even realise the importance of these micro-interactions, it is just one of those things we can’t live without. Micro-interactions are small design elements showing the progress of a process like a download or update. As downloads or updates are processes which can take a while, the mobile user needs to be updated. By showing small visual movements, users are aware of the status and assured that all is going well. These digital interfaces are therefore like the middlemen between users and the final outcome. Has a user clicked on a video, but is it going to take some time to fully load it? Then show the content is coming up. As mobile users tend to be less patient, this is essential in our 5 tips for a mobile optimised website.
4. Keep it simple
5 tips for a mobile optimised website? Keeping it simple will make sure visitors don’t lose their attention. Therefore you’ll need to include enough white space, avoid too much text, and minify your site’s HTML and CSS. Installing a proper caching plugin will also get you a long way. Lower the amount of distractions as much as possible, because at the end we want our visitors to convert as well.
5. Include a dynamic keyboard
Dynamic keyboards avoid the need to switch between keyboards everytime you enter data. As mentioned in one of our other tips for a mobile optimised website, the key idea is to facilitate things. A dynamic keyboard is one important way to do this. Dynamic keyboards, for instance, will automatically show numbers when there’s a need to enter a phone number.
Want to know more?
Wondering if your mobile website can be optimised? We would like to take a look at your website to spot opportunities for growth. Feel free to contact us or meet our CRO specialists.
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About Reinier Landstra
Designer & Marketing strategist
Reinier is designer bij Whello. Hij vertaalt ideeën naar designs die merken zichtbaar en voelbaar maken. Kritisch, creatief en altijd gericht op resultaat.
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