Here’s How To Fix That, And Increase Conversions
Not to sound alarmist, but brands that haven’t switched focus over to mobile-first website design are living in the past and losing potential customers every day. I’ve chatted with a lot of business owners, and even today, there are a lot of them who just don’t understand why they need to pay more money to get their websites optimized for mobile devices.
“We already have a website, and I checked on my phone and it works fine.” is an answer I’ve received more than once. It’s a response that may have been reasonable ten years ago when mobile search was secondary to desktop search.
Today, more than two-thirds of South Africans access websites primarily with their mobile phone. Only 22% of website visits in the country come from larger screens like laptops and desktops.
This means that it’s not enough to just have your website work on mobile. It needs to look great and convert as well. Oftentimes, designers will use stock templates when developing clients’ websites and glance over the micro-optimizations that make for a good mobile design.
A Good Mobile Design Is Easy To Navigate
Mobile web designs should be intuitive to first-time users. You’d be surprised by how many high-intent visitors end up leaving a hard-to-navigate website. People don’t want to have to think, meaning your navigation and informational flow need to not only make sense but also be easier to navigate than your competitors.
Think about how you browse the internet. When you search for something on Google, you may open several pages of the same product, comparing prices and how trustworthy the website looks.
This is how a lot of people use Google, and it means each time someone searches you’re in direct competition with each competitor’s website. It gives websites with intuitive design an immediate advantage.
Navigation refers to how users move between different sections of your website. There’s typically a main menu that links to your main category pages, or your ecommerce store. Then within each page are more subtle methods of getting users from point A to point B. This is usually done with hyperlinks and buttons.
When one optimizes the design of a page for this purpose it’s usually referred to as “UX Design” – UX stands for user experience and it’s aptly named. This area of web design focuses specifically on how users think, act, and respond.
It harnesses the understanding of human psychology with the creativity of art, and in many ways has ties to traditional print media design, just with new variables (scroll depth, device rendering, etc).
Ensuring Compatibility In Features & Tools
I’ve worked with clients who had spent tens of thousands of rands on certain features, like interactive maps, and tools, only for the apps not to respond well on mobile. The buttons would often feel too small for phones, or the scrolling would be a nightmare.
One would expect the developers to check these types of things, but it’s not always the case. I’ve noticed over the years, that a lot of designers or developers want to get the final product out before giving it the necessary testing on different devices.
Thankfully, in most cases, the problems just take a few CSS tweaks to resolve.
Still, pay attention to design elements that may work great on desktop, but fall apart on mobile devices.
Is Your Website Truly Optimized For Mobile?
To check if your brand’s website is optimized for mobile, there are a few different angles of attack.
First Step: Think Like a New User
The easiest way to get a basic gauge of your website’s user experience is to go to it on your phone. Pretend you’ve never seen the site before, try and think like a brand-new visitor. You may notice small hurdles in the user experience.
The challenge with this approach is that once we know how to navigate a website, we can’t just forget it. Even if we try and put ourselves in the user’s shoes. You only get one chance at first impressions. It’s similar to trying to forget how to navigate down the road of your childhood home.
To make this process easier, here’s an infographic checklist you can use to make sure you check all the nooks and crannies:
Get A Professional Audit
Website audits are one of the best ways to get professional feedback on your UX design, these audits typically cost
I’m running a special at the moment where I offer a completely free website audit with any managed hosting solution (from R500p/m).
During an audit, professionals like myself will go through your website with a fine tooth comb. Desktop and mobile layouts will be tested. The process involves looking at subtle problems like mismatched padding, layout problems, load time issues, and ineffective use of fonts, titles, or links.
A/B Testing & User Tracking
A step deeper is the A/B testing and user tracking, where one can monitor the behaviour of users on the website in real-time, seeing what they click on, how they respond to certain designs, and ultimately seeing where the improvements can be made.
This is especially important when optimizing for mobile, where one has less flexibility in design, compared to larger desktop screens.
A/B testing is slightly different from behaviour tracking. The behaviour-tracking process is for determining which design choices to make. A/B testing is then done to see how the users respond to say, for instance, a change of button color.
We then track the conversion rates between the two colours and see if there’s a noticeable difference.
This service is recommended for businesses looking to maximize their potential and drive conversions. I’ve done this process dozens of times, if you’re looking for someone to run these tests and get your website performing up to its true potential, drop me an email. I’ll help refine your mobile web experience, making sure visitors love your website.
I’m a Somerset West-based website designer and SEO expert with more than a decade and a half of experience in digital publishing. I’ve worked on large community websites and forums, as well as affiliate-focused niches, refining the strategy of effective user experience and search visibility optimization. In my spare time, I’m a passionate birder, sometimes traveling across the country for a worthy rarity.