Mobile Web Design
Technology is changing rapidly, and if you’ve got a website it’s essential you’re able to keep up with the times. A traditional design won’t work in a mobile capacity and the influx of smartphones, tablets and iPads means you need to ensure you’re fully compatible — it’s important to give customers what they want, because if they can’t use your site they could easily look elsewhere.
What makes mobile design different?
To begin with, it’s important to consider the fact that tablets and smartphones have much smaller screens than their traditional counterparts, so you’ll need to alter your design accordingly. Something that looks great on a regular screen will easily look chaotic on a tablet or mobile, and if your text is too small you won’t be offering customers a good experience. Touch interaction offers a another point of consideration rather than having a mouse to play with, customers will be using their fingertips so you need to make sure that everything is compatible and totally user-friendly — and then you need to think about Flash capability. Apple doesn’t allow Flash functionality on any of its devices so you’ll want to avoid this program altogether, because with iPads dominating the tablet market (by September 2011, almost 40million units had been sold worldwide) it’s essential you’re able to meet customer expectations.
How can I make sure I’m compatible?
There’s a lot to think about when it comes to mobile design, but as long as you remember a few important points you’ll be able to transform your website into one that’s mobile-friendly and ready for action:
- Avoid Flash. There are alternatives to the Adobe program but it’s often best to think on a simpler scale, thereby ensuring all devices are compatible.
- Check the layout. You need to make sure that your layout is suitable for this kind of resolution, and remember to keep text to a readable size.
- Touch interaction. Keep links large enough and spaced far enough apart to ensure fingertips will be able to do their job.
- Re-evaluate your navigation menus. You need to make sure that navigation is just as simple on a tablet or mobile as it is on a regular computer screen, so avoid drop-down menus and remember the importance of user-friendly links.
- Simplicity matters. When it comes to mobile design, simplicity should be at the heart of everything you do to ensure you’re providing a wholly functional solution to customer requirements.
Give customers what they want
Customers expect to receive a great online experience no matter what device they choose, and it’s important that you’re able to give it to them. In some cases a few tweaks could be all it takes whilst at other times you might need a complete mobile redesign, and you should never underestimate the importance of meeting customer demand. The market is continually growing so it makes sense to act now before you lose out, and we’re able to provide the services you need to ensure you give customers what they want.
Mobile redesign from WebHot Designs
We’re a web design and development company based just outside Norwich, Norfolk, and we know what it takes to make a good design. We can transform your regular site into one that’s totally fit for a mobile browsing audience, ensuring that customers can view your site no matter what device they choose. We won’t bombard you with fussy design ideas because we like to keep things simple, and when it comes to the web (and, in particular, the mobile web) that’s exactly how we think it should be. Just take a look at www.homelye.co.uk for an example of the type of mobile site we can create and get in touch for the same level of service, and you’ll be fully mobile-compatible in no time at all.
