More and more people than ever before are accessing the internet via mobile devices like smart phones and tablet computers. In fact, 10 percent of all web traffic comes from a mobile device. With that percentage rising every day, it’s essential that your company’s website is properly optimized for the mobile web.
Despite the fact that smart phones are becoming ubiquitous among cell phone users, many companies don’t place a high priority on the mobile optimization of their site when they really should. Here are some tips for how to get the best results on the mobile internet, and stay ahead of the curve.
Keep it simple
Above all else, your company’s website should have a simple, clean layout. Reason being, the screens on mobile devices, especially smart phones, are much smaller than desktop monitors, and therefore limit the amount of information that can be displayed at one time. Luckily, there are ways you can code your website that identify what kind of device (mobile or desktop) the site is being accessed by. In doing this, the information displayed on your desktop site will be the same as on your mobile website, just shown differently.
In line with keeping your mobile site simple, for the love of God and all that is holy, please do not use Flash! Not on your primary website and especially not on your mobile one. Anyone using an iOS device won’t be able to use your site because Apple doesn’t support it. Also, while the use of images can be beneficial, keep in mind how much less space your site actually has on the mobile platform.
Don’t ignore white space
As any designer, artist, photographer, etc. will tell you, white space is crucial to the composition of a design. The same applies for websites optimized for the mobile web, but in a different way. While it’s still an essential piece of the design puzzle, white space is used more for usability than design on the mobile web. How many times have you tried to click a text link on your smart phone and accidentally clicked the link next to the one you wanted to click? Probably more than you can count. But by using white space appropriately, you can pad text links with white space, making them easier to click and in turn making your site easier to navigate.
SEO
And lastly, if you’re using an m.mobilewebsite.com format for your mobile site, don’t forget to optimize it for search. While relevant, fresh and meaningful content still reigns supreme when it comes to on-site optimization, title tags and meta descriptions are equally as important. Don’t underestimate the ability of search engines like Google to drive people to your site.
While these aren’t the only ways to optimize your business’s website for the mobile internet, they are a great place to get started. If you have other suggestions, don’t hesitate to leave us a comment!
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