7 Essential Tips on How to Create a Mobile Friendly Website

You have probably noticed that there are domain names that end in “.com” and other domain URLs that end with “.mobi.” If you haven’t this is not unusual since mobile commerce is just getting started.  The .com domains refer to conventional ecommerce websites that are viewable on a PC screen. The .mobi domains are specifically designed for viewing on a mobile device.

Because of the increased use of mobile devices many website owners are creating a mobile friendly version of their website.  The reason behind creating a mobile friendly website is to make it more user-friendly for the mobile consumer since some components included with a traditional website do not function well on the small-sized screen for a smartphone.  It is fairly easy to create a mobile-friendly website if you know a few rules of thumb for making a .mobi website a pleasant experience for your visitors.

Know Your Target Audience

Create a mobile website that meets the needs of your target audience and your business objectives.  This involves knowing audience demographics and the extent of their experience with using mobile devices.  For example, if your website is geared toward a younger audience chances are they will have more skills with using a mobile device.  If your website is targeted toward an older crowd you may need to design the components differently to make it more user-friendly.

 Make the Design an Extension of Your Full Site

 When you create your mobile website make sure you do not lose the design and professional appearance of your full website.  If you use certain colors which signify your brand make sure the theme is carried over to your mobile website.  Extend the theme to your mobile website but reduce the number of clicks that are required to get the visitor where they want to go.  This saves time and frustration while still maintaining the quality of your full site.

Remove Unnecessary Elements

 Decide what elements are the most important and then include those in your mobile website.  You will find that many of the components on your full website are of no interest to the mobile user such as headers and footers on your full-sized web pages and links to locations that are not really that important to a mobile user.

Use Images with Reservation

 Use images sparingly and reduce the size if you can accomplish this without pixilation.  Sometimes when you change the size of the images it also reduces the quality.  If you offer a product line on your website then use smaller images but provide the visitor with a link to your full website so they can opt to zoom in on the image if they want to get a closer look.

Provide an Option to View Your Full Website

 When you create a mobile website place a link on each one of the pages to your full website.  This provides the mobile user with the option to browse your full website if they wish to obtain more information about content they find of interest.  Make sure the links are not in the form of graphics to ensure that the user can get around your site in a speedy manner.

Add Social Networking Buttons

 Remember to include social networking buttons for sites such as Facebook and Twitter to encourage content sharing.  This will increase your reach and improve your return on investment.

Cater to Device Demographics

 Design your pages on the mobile site so that the content is manageable by the types of devices your audience uses.  You can discover the types of mobile devices your visitors use by deploying an analytics program such as Mobile Analytics API which is offered by Google.  Once you know what devices your audience uses then you should organize a device testing strategy to ensure your visitors have a pleasant experience when they visit your site on their mobile device.