Nowadays, all websites have to be mobile friendly. This is primarily because of the fact that more people are using their mobile phones, instead of laptops and desktop computers to access the Internet. Therefore, when designing a website, making it mobile friendly is no longer an option but mandatory. Globally, more than 7 billion mobile handsets are in the hands of users. Out of this, 1.5 billion are Smartphone devices. In fact, Smartphone devices account for 55% of all mobile phones purchased each year. What this means is that ignoring the large percentage of people who use Smartphone and other types of cell phones to access Internet is suicidal.
The fact that the world has close to 7 billion mobile phones in the hands of around 3.2 billion users is not something worth ignoring. Any online based business that desires to appeal to the modern customer can no longer afford to ignore the importance of making its website mobile friendly. None of the measures that such a business undertakes to make its website mobile friendly would be effective without thorough and repeated testing. Some of the tools with which to test the website and see how it looks on mobile phones include Screenfly, mobiReady and Mobile Phone Emulator.
To make the website mobile friendly, it would be awesome to focus on the basics. Therefore, ensure that the landing or home page has all the basic details such as contact information, hours and directions to the business location or premises. A link to the business’ address should also appear on the mobile friendly website, preferably through Google Maps. Make it easier for mobile phone users to open the site by limiting the amount of images and graphics. Make the website as light as possible by reducing the number of images and graphics. Where images are mandatory, choose the smaller ones and compress them further for faster loading on cell phones.
Next, it would be wonderful to design the website for touch screen. This might seem obvious enough, but it is quite surprising that few people adhere to this recommendation. Designing the website for touch screens is all about enlarging all the buttons and links so that users are able to click easily and open anything of interest. Next, find a way of reducing the amount of information that users have to type on their cell phones or Smartphone devices to access any link or page of interest. Dropdown menus are the best, rather than typing endless words. It would be a great idea to reduce some of the content as well.
Lastly, simplified site navigation is always welcome in making the website mobile friendly. Consolidating the many menu options as well as tabs into a shortlist of navigation varieties works well for any person who desires to make his website mobile friendly by simplifying site navigation. Mobile friendly websites must feature mobile friendly email messaging. If the website engages with its customers through social media, it has to learn how to keep its updates and posts as short as possible. Asking for help from experts and professional web developers is one of the best ideas to pursue in making the website mobile friendly.
