‘The key to long term success is the ability to adapt to change.’ This statement is true in all areas of life and business – and web design is no different.
It’s safe to say that web design has changed dramatically with technology advancement in recent years; however it’s the changing behaviour of customers that is the real driving force.
The way in which your customers access the internet has changed, with an ever increasing number of people going online anywhere and at any time of the day using mobile smartphones and tablets.
This year alone at ExtraDigital we are seeing big shifts in mobile usage to browse websites, check out products and even complete purchases.
We are also seeing a high level of lost traffic and sales due to a poor mobile experience.
Mobile Customers Need a Different Approach
Most websites are still being designed today for a wide landscape view that works well on a laptop and even on many tablets, but not on mobiles.
To make a site work for mobile many web designers will simply slide parts of the design around so that it looks ok on a smaller screen.
Is this really the best approach?
At ExtraDigital we believe your customers need more than a website that just look ok on mobile.
Your customers need a mobile friendly site that makes it easy for them to browse and buy and that’s a very different approach.
Good Mobile Customer Experience
There are a number of factors to consider for mobile users including:
- easy logical menus
- clear calls to action in the right place
- good site search
- ability to complete orders across different devices
- easy check out process
- fast page loading speeds
Mobile users have much smaller screens and tend to view in portrait so making sure your website design works for them is key.
Never expect your customers to adapt to your site design as they will simply go elsewhere.
Responsive and Mobile Experience
Just because mobile customers have slightly different requirements doesn’t mean you need a separate mobile website.
At ExtraDigital we know responsive design is recommended by Google and can be much easier for companies to maintain.
In addition good mobile responsive design makes sure the right elements are presented in the best positions and most customer friendly way.
This means you get a web design that truly works for everyone even on a small mobile screen.
The key is to plan for mobile users from the start.
Make web designs mobile first then expand out to adjust features for a wider view not the other way round.
Conclusion
Your customers love shopping on mobile devices so your website needs to love them too.
Don’t settle for a website design that just looks ok on mobile.
Look for a web designer who will put your customers front and centre and make sure your website is a shoppers paradise whatever their device of choice.
