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There are millions of people using the internet, and interestingly, more than half of all the global internet traffic comes from mobiles. In fact, they make up over 57%, with desktops coming in at about 40%. You are probably reading this on your phone, too. So, any website that is ignoring mobile-friendly web design is probably losing tons of potential traffic and sales.
Still, making a website responsive and mobile-friendly is not as easy as just downsizing everything and calling it a day. A bad job can make your website slow and lead to tons of UX issues. As an app or software developer, you have to look under the hood, and much like a mechanic, you will probably have to overhaul some things or maybe the entire system. In this guide, we’ll check what it takes to build a mobile-friendly website or transition into one.
Why Do You Need a Mobile-Friendly Web Design?
Here is the big deal about a mobile-friendly web design: your brand’s success depends on it to thrive. When was the last time you tried to use your phone to fill out a form on an unresponsive site? You probably didn’t last long. Maybe the buttons were too large, the texts so tiny you had to strain your eyes, or perhaps you needed to scroll from side to side to see a bigger image. One word – disaster.
A poor web design not only causes all sorts of frustration to users or just makes your site feel unwelcoming, but it can also result in people ignoring your site entirely. So, you are losing potential customers you will likely never get to see, and for sure, they are going to recommend your competitors to their friends. But that’s not all.
We now know that Google’s search algorithm also favors mobile-friendly sites and ranks them higher in search result pages. Google uses its mobile-first policy as one of the major factors to determine the rankings and the DA/DR. And since SEO is crucial for brand credibility and long-term success, you want to ensure that you make every effort needed to get good rankings.
Of course, mobile optimization alone won’t be enough. If you know the drill, you understand that you can’t get away without technical SEO, both on-site and off-site optimization, and link-building tactics (e.g., guest posting).
Still, the purpose of manual outreach or any other SEO technique is to bring people to your website. And unless your web page works fast and flawlessly, doing anything else is useless. That’s why mobile-friendliness is a huge leap forward when it comes to your search engine optimization.
Develop Mobile Website: Common Challenges
It takes a lot of effort to develop mobile websites that are a hit with both people and search engines. Even if you are not new to the scene, you can still run into some challenges:
- Features breaking. If you build a website with mobile responsiveness last in mind, then you need to be sure where and how each layout adapts or changes for bigger and smaller screens. Otherwise, you will have all sorts of UI/UX issues.
- Navigational and performance issues. You need to check that navigation is seamless across every screen size and that pages load fast, too. This means checking your code and verifying that there are no bugs or useless codes.
- SEO problems. There are a lot of things that go into optimizing a website to boost its web visibility and ranking. Mobile responsiveness is only one element. You also need to understand how everything ties in together to get an edge.
Making Website Mobile-Friendly: Best Practices
Just like you would sit down and think over the process, costs, features, and anything else it takes to build a website, you have to use the same approach for creating a mobile responsive web design. Little research can uncover tips that will make a huge difference:
#1 Begin With a Clean Code or Responsive Theme
Making a website mobile-friendly begins with the following stage. Whether you are building the website yourself or using a customizable template, it’s important to know what you are aiming for from the get-go. This means keeping your codes as simplified as possible or going with a responsive theme and templates.
If you’re using templates, avoid overly bloated themes that come with tons of unnecessary features that no one really uses. Want to use plugins? Cool, but go for lightweight ones and cultivate a minimalist approach in this case.
In case you’re redesigning your website, you will probably have to upgrade your code or template, or maybe even start using a new CMS. Before you jump into the process, research the current market trends. For example, nowadays, many switch from WordPress to Webflow and other simpler options. Of course, it will greatly depend on your niche and needs. But the idea stays the same – assess your situation, talk to experts, and then decide.
#2 Do More With Less Content
Just like in coding, you also need a “less is more” approach to your content. You don’t want to clutter your web pages with too much lengthy text. Otherwise, you will almost have to do ‘refactoring’ for your content. So, instead of wasting your time, focus on making your posts clear and packing more punch into them. You can be fun, bold, or edgy – whatever fits your style. But either way, your blog posts have to be clear, readable, and helpful.
Now, remember that even a website with the best content still needs backlinks if you hope to dominate search results, so don’t skimp on your link-building campaign. TMS Outsource recommends analyzing your user behavior to identify the best places to place your links.
One more thing: it might be tempting to add colorful pop-ups everywhere, but your visitors will likely disagree with you. Why? Because only a few other things can be equally as annoying. So, avoid pop-ups as much as you can. Still, if you use them, make them smaller and easily closeable.
#3 Compress Images
How do you develop a mobile website ignoring images? Mission impossible. They are a big deal for catching the attention of your website visitors. Your website can’t seem like a boring academic essay. So, quality images, graphics, and animations are really essential. But here is a but – image optimization is overly important.
You need to compress your visuals and strike a perfect balance between quality and low size. Besides, check whether you want to use all the same images for your mobile and desktop versions (hint: they can be a little different).
What is the optimal image resolution that doesn’t hurt your web performance? The overall industry standard is 72 PPI/DPI. Just make sure you’re also paying attention to the size of videos and animations you’re using.
#4 Big, Bold, and Useable
Now, let’s talk about the font size, buttons, and anything else people will be reading and interacting with. Everyone perceives your website visually at first. So, try to find that median where there’s nothing too small or too big that may cause accidental clicks. And hey, the number of tabs, buttons, CTAs, forms, etc., should be kept to a minimum.
Sometimes, when designing a website, it might seem like your text is way too big, but it isn’t always true. In general, when it comes to the body text, you shouldn’t go below the size of 16px. You can use 14px for some exceptional situations, but going lower than that isn’t the best idea. Still, the best advice here is to listen to your graphic designers because they understand all the proportions better.
Also, don’t try to make a brochure or a PDR research paper out of your website. We get it – you want to fit as much information as possible. But the thing is that your page should have some “air” (aka free space); it can’t be cluttered with tons of text or graphic elements. So, try to prioritize the most important things you want to say and don’t go into unnecessary details when writing your website copy.
#5 Test and Track Your Website Regularly
You probably know more about cyber threats compared to the average person. Chances are that you have (you better do) a whole strategy in place to avoid being a victim of a malware or phishing attack. But there’s some more to online safety.
When you test your mobile usability and track your web performance with a decent tool, you’ll be able to spot any issues or vulnerabilities that can be easily exploited. This is also a crucial step if you want to secure your off-page SEO, as you can now react quickly to anything that might cause your search rankings to worsen.
Conclusion
Today, the question isn’t whether you need to create a mobile-friendly web design. You do. All of us, in fact. But the only way to do it properly is by getting knowledge (if you read this blog, you are on the right track), creating a plan, and just doing it. Easy-peasy. But don’t postpone this optimization because search engines and clients are unapologetic about bad mobile performance. You know, mobile-first and all that stuff.
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