Since 2014 Mobile devices have become the primary platform that people use to access the internet, overtaking the traditional desktops. This new trend has changed the way websites are being developed today.

To maintain your business’s position online these days, it is important to have your website designed to work smoothly on both the traditional desktop and mobile devices. As this is a very new trend I can hear you ask yourself, how you are going implement a fully functioning mobile friendly website.

Let me first state clearly that this is a bit of a technical task which will require the support of a professional web developer but all the same it is important as the business owner that you understand the basic rudiments that is required to have an effective mobile friendly website.

In this blog we will try as much as possible to be non technical to enable you the non technical person to understand. I am sharing Geeks Global’s 5 useful pointers we usually take our clients through to help them harness this new trend. I hope this information will start you off to discuss with your web design team how to create for you a mobile friendly website.

Use a Responsive Website design

It is important when developing a mobile friendly website to ensure that you choose a responsive design. Because mobile devices come in different screen sizes, the layout of the website should be able to automatically adjust to best fit the screen type, without any experience or content being lost. When using a responsive design on a website, the web page will be able to detect the user screen size and orientation and change the layout accordingly and this can be done without having many different versions of your website for desktop or mobile.

Layout

The layout of your website is vital to creating a mobile friendly website. The first key aspect of the layout to look out for in any good mobile website is, is it navigable with one thumb, this is an important aspect to the design, as many of your users are going to be using their phone with one hand. Making everything accessible will allow for a friendlier user experience

The second key aspect for a mobile website layout is simplicity. A simple website is usually the most mobile friendly. You don’t want to confuse your customers. If you have read our previous blog on web design you would know that you only have 8 seconds to impress the customer before they leave to your competitor’s website.

Speed

The Speed of the Website is a vital aspect of your mobile website design. So filling your website with heavy data files and visual effects will increase the visual appearance of your website however it will have a massive impact on the speed. It is important to have a balance but the faster your website is the more likely users will stay on your website. Having optimized mobile pictures and media is a great way to increase the speed of your website. It is also important to take into account that not all mobile devices will be running on 4G networks, so make sure your mobile website is designed to be accessible on lower download speeds.

Video

We all know that using video on your site is a great way to letting your audience have a real experience with your product or brand. However for the purpose of this discussion we will look at how video in your mobile site helps with navigation. You can use videos on your mobile website to explain each of your products or services and direct the viewer to click on a link on your website if they want to buy that product or service

According to a recent study, consumers using mobile devices are three times more likely to watch videos than laptop/desktop computer users. This goes to show that videos really go to better mobile experience. Videos can also lead up to a 40% increase in sales.

Test

This Step is what separates the best mobile user friendly websites from the rest. Test It, Test It for the second time, and then Test It again. It is important to test your new mobile website on as many different devices as possible. When testing make sure you test every feature on the website. This will allow you to iron out any creases and give you a truly spectacular user friendly mobile website.

So! There we go. We hope you have enjoyed reading our top 5 tips to Creating a mobile friendly Website. Now that you are armed with knowledge, start the discussion with your web design professional and develop for yourself or business an outstanding mobile friendly website.