Every project that a web designer undertakes these days must address a mobile strategy because now more than ever, the internet is mobile, and people are accessing the internet more on their mobile devices than on desktops. This means that every website has to have a mobile strategy in order to reach out to more clients than before. There is so much to consider, especially if you want to ensure that you are meeting the needs of all mobile users irrespective of the device they are using.
Here are some of the key considerations that will make your web design strategy a success:
1. Identify your need for a mobile site
This is the most important consideration you should make when you begin designing your mobile web strategy. If you are getting started, you will need a brand new website, which will require both a mobile and a desktop version. If you have an old website, you might want to redesign it and include a new mobile website. If you already have a functional desktop website on the other hand, you will need an addition mobile website, which will not be changed into something else. Each of these options will present its own challenges, but you must make a choice of what you would like to do if you are going to produce an effective mobile web design strategy for your business.
2. Take your business objectives into consideration
What are some business objectives related to the website, more so the mobile version? As a developer, you will have to prioritize these objectives when you are designing the website, whether it is a personal project or a client’s website. It is important to focus on the top priority objectives that have already been set for the business to ensure that they will be met by the mobile strategy.
3. Consider the past before going forward
This will help a lot when you are redesigning a website in order to include a mobile strategy or even when you are creating a brand new mobile website for their business. It is important to know the kinds of devices that your users are using to access the internet for instance in order to ensure that you are reaching out to as many as possible.
4. Keep your designs simple
Simplicity is key when you are trying to change a design layout from desktop to mobile. Remember that the file size has to be small in order to keep the loading time short too. Generally, you have to do your best to keep your mobile site’s loading time short. For this, you can consider simplifying the design approach, the layout and the navigation as well. Choose your elements carefully as well and go for less, which will translate to more in the end.
5. Only design responsive web designs
New mobile devices are released every day, and it becomes hard for business people and web developers to keep checking their sites in all the available browsers to ensure that they are functioning properly on all of them. There is a need to optimize your website for a large landscape of mobile and desktop browsers in order for your users to enjoy the different resolutions that are supported by the different technologies. This will save you the time and the hassle of redesigning your website every time there is a new device on the market.
6. Switch from clickable elements to tappable elements
Interaction on mobile websites is done through tapping on elements and buttons rather than through mouse clicks. Therefore, you have to change your clickable elements to tappable elements to make them usable to your end users. Consider the size of your elements and buttons as well, in order to make it easy for your users to tap on them without missing on what they want to tap.
7. Use of single-column layouts
When choosing your layout, consider a single-column layout as it works better than all the others. For starters, a single-column layout will help you manage your limited space on the small mobile device screen. It will also help you scale between different resolutions provided by different mobile devices allowing you to switch from portrait to landscape modes easily.
8. Offer an interactive feedback
As a web developer, it is important for you to remember that you will need to give feedback for every action that your users may take on the front-end of your mobile website. For instance, a button that has been clicked on can change visually in order to show the user that they have already clicked on that button. In case of longer loading times, you could provide an animation to show your users that something is still ongoing. This will keep your users on the website longer.
9. Consider a vertical hierarchy
A vertical hierarchy is the best thing to use if you have a lot of information to provide on your mobile website, as it gives you a simple way to organize all the information. If you are using the single-column layout for your design, consider placing your content in folding modules that will allow your users to tap and open the content they are interested in. This will reduce the amount of space it takes and all the information will be provided on the website.
10. Test your website
Just like every other project you undertake, you have to ensure that you test your mobile website thoroughly on as many mobile devices as possible. This way, you will have a better idea of what your end users will see when they open the website on their device.
Designing for mobile users is important as the number of mobile device users keeps growing every day. Because of this, it is virtually impossible to access a website if it only has a desktop version. When designing a mobile web strategy, all these factors have to be considered for the mobile web developer to experience success.
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