Make Sure Your Design Works in Mobile & Tablet Browsers…
Web browsing on Mobile devices seem to be getting easier to use every few months at this point, and there’s not much left that can’t be done on the web using a smart phone or tablet. In order to fully portray the growth of mobile based browsing.
Creating something that functions and renders well on mobile devices doesn’t need to be a painstakingly long process, which seems to be the reason many agencies have appeared to turn their backs on the mobile phenomenon. The fact remains however, that with a smaller screen and less processing power, browsing with a mobile device will never be done exactly how it is with a desktop computer. Here are a few guidelines to follow when it comes to making sure your website design will maintain its functionality on a mobile browser:
- Create a mobile homepage. The truth is you don’t absolutely have to build something completely different from the website that will be displayed on desktop computers. Take a moment to consider the ways in which most people use their mobile devices to browse the web. They aren’t trying to look through pages on content, the screen isn’t big enough for that to be anything but bothersome. Creating a stripped down version of your homepage that will scale properly on a smart phone and present them with what they’re looking for (usually a phone number, location, or other contact information) will guarantee that your website is reaching its potential in generating conversions via mobile devices.
- Keep things like flash and huge files to a minimum. While all the cool effects that are possible can be pretty impressive, there simply isn’t enough power in mobile devices to display these things properly (yet). Different companies, such as Android and iPhone, have different operating systems that can do different things. This is a primary reason that it’s safer to keep things simple when it comes to mobile design; just because it works on an Android doesn’t mean it will work on an iPhone.
- If possible—optimize content for the way mobile browsers are going to see it. Smart phone screens have grown to impressive sizes and have no problem displaying things in HD, but they’re still not anywhere near large enough for someone to enjoy squinting through pages and pages of text. Keep content short and to the point if you’re designing something for a mobile device.
- Utilize a feature unique to mobile devices, to call phone numbers! This feature (that obviously can’t be done on a computer)when it comes to making contact with a customer. It allows mobile web browsers to click on the phone number listed on the site, and instantly engage in a call.
Taking recent trends into consideration, it is safe to assume that the use of mobile devices for web interactions is going to continue growing in popularity. Part of designing a website is critically thinking about who is going to view the site, and how they are going to view it. It’s with this in mind that we suggest devoting some time to developing an efficient process for ensuring that each and every website will shine not only on a desktop computer, but on smart phones and tablets as well.
