How To Make A Mobile-Friendly Website: 8 Best Practices

Intro

If you want your business to remain relevant in today's world, a mobile-friendly website is no longer an option but a necessity. With over 5 billion mobile users worldwide; it's crucial to ensure that your website is optimized for mobile devices to reach the widest audience possible and provide a seamless user experience. There are some important best practices for designing a mobile-friendly website, but the most vital aspect to consider is the reduced screen size.

That fact alone requires designers to make a number of choices to better present the contents of their pages to their users. To help you make the best ones, we'll give you 8 best practices for designing a mobile-friendly website so you, too, can create outstanding pages that will leave a positive impression on your users and entice them to keep coming back!

8 Ways to Build a Mobile-Friendly Website

1. Adopt A Responsive, Simple Design

(Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/_x335IZXxfc)

The first step in making a mobile-friendly website is to adopt a responsive design, making it automatically adjust to fit the screen size of the device accessing it. This way, users won't have to zoom in or out or scroll horizontally to read your content. Responsive design ensures that your website looks good on any device, whether a desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Mobile screens are much smaller than desktop screens, which means that besides being responsive, your website's design should also be simple to make it easier for users to parse its content and navigate its pages. As a rule of thumb, you should avoid cluttering your pages with too many elements.

To achieve this, you should consider using the following guidelines:

Use A Clean Color Scheme

Try to minimize the number of colors and ensure their combination is pleasing to the eye. A good way is to follow color theory and create a strong palette using guidelines (such as complementary, monochromatic, or analogous colors).

Use Clear Typography

Ensure to integrate an easy-to-read font for all text on the website. Use a font size that is large enough for users to read your content on mobile devices without zooming in. A good size recommendation for mobile devices is at least 16 pixels.

Have Explicit Navigability

Use a simple menu and organize your content logically. Employing breadcrumbs and/or a back button can also help users navigate your website.

Use Mobile-friendly Elements And Extensions

If you have forms or other methods of interacting with your website, ensure they are easily readable and usable. Use input fields or buttons big enough for users to tap on.

Minimize the number of fields you require users to fill out in the specific case of forms. Use clear labels for your fields, and make the forms easy to submit on mobile devices.

Before installing any plugins or widgets, check if they are mobile-friendly. Some may not be optimized for mobile devices, which can slow down your website or cause issues with usability. In those cases, you'll often be able to find mobile-friendly alternatives you can use in their place.

Design For Accessibility

Accessibility is essential for ensuring that all users can access your website, regardless of their abilities. A good practice for a website's accessibility is to use alt tags for images, ensure that your website is keyboard accessible, and use clear and descriptive text for links. To maximize accessibility, you should design a website that users can navigate using only a keyboard.

2. Keep Your Content Concise And Scannable

Mobile users are often in a hurry and don't have the time to read through long blocks of text. Organize your content and make it easy to parse at a glance with short paragraphs, bullet points, and headings.

Use simple language and avoid jargon or technical terms that users may not understand. If you really must use technical jargon, provide a small introduction or definition of the keywords in question so people reading your content are in the loop and don't get confused. This will increase the chances of them staying to enjoy your website's content, which should be your ultimate goal.

3. Optimize Your Website Speed

Website speed is critical to providing a good user experience and is even more important on mobile devices. Mobile users are often on-the-go and have limited data plans, which means they expect websites not to be bloated and load quickly.

To optimize your website's speed, you can compress images and embedded videos, minimize HTTP requests, and use a content delivery network (CDN) to serve your website from multiple locations.

Do be aware that while it's important to compress your media to optimize speed, it's also crucial to use high-quality media that look good on high-resolution screens. Be judicious in the compressions you employ.

4. Use Clear Calls-To-Action (CTAs)

A call-to-action (CTA) is a critical element of any website design that is used to encourage users to take a specific action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form.

Clear and effective CTAs can help guide users through your website and improve conversion rates. Here are 3 best practices for using CTAs on mobile-oriented websites:

• Use clear, action-oriented language: Use verbs that encourage users to take action, such as "Buy now," "Sign up," or "Learn more." Avoid vague language that doesn't provide a clear indication of what the user is expected to do.
• Make them visually prominent: Make sure that your CTAs are visually prominent on your website. You can use contrasting colors, bold typography, and whitespace to make them stand out. Position them in a prominent location of the page, such as above the fold or in the header or footer, where they are easy to find and interact with.
• Design them to be mobile-friendly: Make sure that your CTAs are mobile-friendly and easy to tap on a touchscreen device. Use a size and placement that is easy to reach with one thumb, and make sure that there is enough whitespace around the button to prevent accidental taps.

In this phase, and depending on the complexity of your website, you may need the help of a programmer. You can find web developers online that can help you to ensure that your website has all the features you need.

5. Avoid Pop-ups And Interstitials

Pop-ups and interstitials are intrusive ads that appear on a website and can interrupt the user's browsing experience. A pop-up is a window that appears on top of a website's content, usually asking the user to subscribe to a newsletter, complete a survey, or download an app. Interstitials are full-screen ads that appear between pages or before the user can access the website's content.

While pop-ups and interstitials can effectively capture the user's attention and generate leads or sales, they can also be very frustrating for users. On smaller screens, pop-ups can take up the entire screen, making it difficult for users to close them or navigate the website. Both can result in a poor user experience and may even lead to users abandoning the website altogether.

Reinforcing this idea, Google has explicitly stated that they will penalize websites that use intrusive interstitials on mobile devices, and these websites may not rank as high in search results. Therefore, avoiding pop-ups and interstitials is essential for providing a good user experience and maintaining search engine visibility.

6. Optimize Your Website For Local Search

(Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/7MvFxGjWWVs)

If you have a local business with a physical location or that serves a specific geographic area, optimizing for local search is a critical best practice. Local search optimization involves making sure that your website and business information appear in relevant local search results. This can help your business get discovered by potential customers who are searching for products or services in your area.

Here are some tips for optimizing your website for local search:

• Claim your Google My Business listing: Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including search and maps. Claiming and optimizing your GMB listing is one of the most important steps you can take to improve your local search visibility. Make sure that your business name, address, phone number, and hours of operation are accurate and up-to-date.
• Use local keywords: Include your city, state, and region in your website content, meta tags, and page titles. This can help search engines understand the geographic location of your business and show your website in relevant local search results.
• Get listed in online directories: There are many online directories, such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, and TripAdvisor, that allow businesses to create profiles and list their contact information, website, and business description. Make sure that your business is listed in relevant directories, and that your information is consistent across all platforms.
• Create location-specific content: Consider creating blog posts or pages that highlight the unique aspects of your location, such as local events, attractions, or landmarks. This can help your website rank for local search terms and show up in relevant search results.
• Encourage customer reviews: Positive reviews can improve your business's online reputation and increase your visibility in search results. Make sure to respond to reviews, both positive and negative, and use them as an opportunity to engage with your customers and improve your business.

7. Test Your Website On Different Devices

Testing a website on different devices is an important best practice to ensure that it provides a consistent user experience across all platforms. With so many different devices on the market, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers, it's essential to test your website on a variety of devices to make sure it looks and functions properly, no matter where it is displayed.

Here are some of the most important reasons why testing on different devices is crucial:

• Different screen sizes and resolutions: One of the most significant differences between devices is screen size and resolution. A website that looks great on a desktop computer may not be optimized for smaller screens, such as those on smartphones or tablets. Testing your website on different devices allows you to see how it looks and functions on different screen sizes and make adjustments as necessary.
• Different browsers: Each device will have its own operative system such as iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. All operative systems feature their own default web browser, but also have multiple other installable options. These browsers have their own quirks and features, so testing your website on different browsers can help you identify any compatibility issues or performance problems and ensure that your website works well for all users.
• User behavior and interaction: Users interact with websites differently depending on the device they are using. Mobile users are more likely to use touch gestures or swipe through content, while desktop users will tend to use a mouse or keyboard. Testing your website on different devices can help you understand how users interact with your website and make adjustments to improve the user experience.

To test your website on different devices, you can use a variety of tools and methods:

• Physically test your website on different devices, either by borrowing devices from friends or colleagues or by using a device testing service.
• Use virtual devices, such as those provided by browser emulators or software like Adobe XD or Figma.

8. Use Analytics To Track User Behavior And Improve Your Web Pages

Analytics tools can provide valuable insights into how users interact with your mobile website. By tracking user behavior, you can learn what users are looking for, how they navigate your site, and where they tend to drop off. This information can help you make informed decisions about how to change or optimize your website for mobile devices.

Here are some ways you can use analytics to track user behavior:

• Track website traffic: Analytics tools can provide data on the number of visitors to your website, how long they stay on each page, and how often they return. By tracking website traffic, you can determine which pages are most popular and which ones need improvement.
• Monitor bounce rates: A high bounce rate means that users are leaving your website quickly without exploring further. By monitoring bounce rates, you can identify pages that may be causing users to leave and take steps to improve them.
• Identify user demographics: Analytics tools can provide information about the age, gender, location, and interests of your website visitors. This data can help you tailor your content to your target audience and improve user engagement.
• Track conversions: Whether your goal is to get users to sign up for a newsletter, make a purchase, or fill out a contact form, analytics tools can track conversions and help you understand how users are interacting with your website to achieve those goals.
• Monitor load times: Mobile users expect fast load times, and analytics tools can help you monitor how quickly your website pages are loading on different devices and networks. By identifying slow-loading pages, you can take steps to improve load times and reduce user frustration.

Conclusion

Making your website mobile-friendly is critical in providing a positive user experience and reaching a wider audience. But for that to happen, designers should constantly think of improving how they deliver and display information on the websites they create.

You are now equipped with the knowledge and best practices to create a mobile-friendly website that will meet the needs and expectations of your users. With these tools and guidelines, you can design a website that will stand out and be a reference point for others to follow in the future.

Use this information wisely and create a website that looks great and provides an excellent user experience across all devices!