It can be said that mobile use has increased exponentially with the advancement of technology. If anything, there is a correlation between the two. As people have moved away from the traditional desktop with more mobile web-surfing, it is important that business and website owners keep up and do the same. It is estimated that around 80% of internet users own a mobile, so, making certain that your website is adaptable to a mobile user is essential in this day and age. If you are in the process of optimizing your website for mobile users and don’t know where to begin, you are in the right place. Here we will detail the best things to remember when optimizing your website for mobile users.
Monitoring the Speed of Your Website
It can get exasperating when you have to deal with the slow loading of webpages, for users as well as website owners. Anything you have experienced elsewhere; you do not want for your own website. These are things that you want to work to avoid, especially as you do not want visitors to your site to be experiencing the frustration you have. Eliminating unnecessary items from your website, which would subsequently slow them down, is something worth keeping note of.
Consider the different elements that are contained within the website design. Are they necessary to your brand and your website, or can you include a smaller, more compressed version? It is advised that to ensure faster loading speeds, to limit the number of large images that you are using on your webpage, for those are one of the main culprits for slow loading of webpages. Limit the webpage to either two or three photos per page. Other aspects of a mobile website builder which need considering when optimizing your website, are buttons and tabs. Can you make the mobile version of your website a scrolling-only one, rather than asking the visitors to click through different parts to reach what they desire? Assess the design of your website as a whole and see if there are places where you can incorporate several things in one. If in doubt, keep things small.
Ask the Customer
While the customers are the ones you are trying to woo with the website, they are also the ones who can help you adjust the design of your website the most. If you are unsure what part of your website needs some attention, run a poll. Do some market research with your audience. They are the ones who would notice these details and are an easily accessed and low-budget resource for adapting and redesigning a website. Most of the time, they are also willing to give their opinion on their experience. If they aren’t willing, try encouraging engagement with a competition or giveaway, e.g., tell us what you think for your chance to win a prize! Whether it is giving less information on the homepage or making a blog post more mobile-friendly to find. The customer will be able to help you locate any potential issues you need to work on. Fixing these issues of the recommendation of a customer will make the customer feel important and bring them back to your website.
Refine Your Design
If you have consulted the customers and find you have more obstacles to overcome than previously thought, it might be worth heading back to the drawing board. Refining the design of your website for mobile might be time-consuming but will be worth it in the long-term. More people will be able to access your website, and subsequently will be purchasing the products and services that you provide. However, if you are finding the redesign process difficult, or do not know where to start, outsourcing the task to a web development agency will prove helpful. Whether you are looking for a digital agency in Leeds or Loughborough, there are plenty out there willing to help you achieve your dream website and to help you optimize the layout for both desktop and mobile. 6B Digital Agency are an example of an agency, who not only optimizes websites for mobile, but for the more technologically advanced TVs and wearable devices. Outsourcing the sometimes-monumental task to a company such as this, allows you to focus your time and efforts on other aspects of your project.
Add Mobile Access To Social Media
An important thing to consider in the present day, social media is where things happen. Having a link of some sort on your website which will take visitors to the varied social media platforms is helpful. This allows for fluid movement between the website and social media and allows for it to all be brought together. Consistency of branding between your social media and website is important for optimizing your performance online. You want to be a recognisable brand and having a standout logo or theme will enable you to do this. Having social media accounts will not just enable you to reach a wider audience but will also give you a window of opportunity for communicating with your customers. As an estimated 4.08 billion people use social media on mobiles and wearable devices, this is a market worth your time and effort. Understand the ways that people are utilizing social media accounts for promoting websites and businesses, and you will have a great deal of traffic on yours in no time.
Consider Desktop to Mobile Cohesion
One important feature that must not be forgotten when optimizing your site for mobile, is to ensure that details are matching on both. Like that of social media, there must be some sort of consistency amongst the two; visitors don’t want to feel like they are visiting two different sites. Furthermore, there needs to be some sort of link between the desktop version of your website and the mobile. There must be certain characteristics present for this to be a feature on your website, that will allow mobile and desktop users to move between the two versions of your website without coming across any problems.
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