The internet has grown since its emergence in the past few years. Every day, websites and blogs spring up online, divulging one form of information or the other, sometimes for free or for premium prices. Almost every home has a computer system, and laptops have even become the rage these days, too.
But lately, another trend seems to be emerging which internet marketers are becoming aware of, and should take advantage; the mobile platform. Individuals like you and me use cell phones and other mobile devices for our day-to-day running of our businesses. Since more people own mobile devices like Android phones, iPhones, tablet PCs than desktops, it is only wise for business organizations and internet marketers to use these platforms to their advantage by marketing their products and services to the public; and the more accessible their websites are, the more positive response they get from potential customers.
In Malaysia, people that accessed the internet via handheld gadgets surpassed those using personal computers in January, 2014. By November 2015, there were 41.9 million mobile connections, which is 1.36 mobile connections per person.
It’s clear that designing mobile responsive sites is essential for good business. Websites used to be heavy, in the sense that it takes eons for a page to load. But with each passing day, new technology is being discovered that will enhance web visitors’ experience when visiting websites on their mobile devices.
Statistics have revealed that over 70% of users visit the internet through their mobile gadgets. These percentages of users usually perform transactions on ecommerce sites or on websites where they locate their desired product or service on the go, and with your website properly positioned and responsive, you can be sure of an increase in business. A website can be said to be responsive if it is designed in such a way that makes it accessible on any form of screen regardless of the size or device.
There are some factors that you need to concentrate on when creating a responsive website. These factors are listed below:
Design for several platforms
As mentioned earlier in this article, the responsiveness of your website is its ability to embrace any screen size no matter what the resolution is. Make sure your design is optimised for different operating systems such as Apple and Andriod devices. This will ensure people may visit your website via different mobile platforms get a good experience.
Thorough classification
Thorough labeling is advised on your website. This is because your ranking may be affected as search engine bots crawl through your site and don’t recognize the parameters you used in compressing your site to the screen size of mobile devices. To be on the safe side, utilise sub-headings and texts where it’s applicable.
Constant observation
Always have the time to check your site consistently through a mobile gadget in order to see if it’s responding the way it should, or if there are hitches you need to clear away. Log on to your webmaster tools, check your redirects to ensure that mobile users are not presented with the wrong pages.
Mobile Friendly Design
To enhance customer engagement and experience of your website, endeavor to show only what is appropriate and would be of interest to visitors. Do not try to clutter it up with graphics and visuals like your desktop version. It will only frustrate potential customers and drive them away from your site. Check your links; be certain those links are not bad, broken or be a challenge for users to click on.
Upload Relevant Images
Show what is important to your mobile users only. Use less of images and present important tabs which users can utilize by navigating from one part of your website to another. If you must use images, which are sometimes important depending on what your site is all about, use compact images saved in proper formats – for example, for images that have areas of solid color, use the GIF format to save them, and for gradients or photographs, use the JPEG format for saving them.
Fast Load Times
Another key feature is the ability of your website to load very fast. Enhance your graphics and writing code; doing these will guarantee that your visitors need not wait forever for your web page to load. People are impatient, and once they observe that your site is slow, they will definitely click away to another site. Well-written codes also enable your web designers to maintain your site easily, and should you consider transferring that duty to new website designers, they will not find it difficult to pick up the reigns of maintenance from where the old ones left off.
Design With Older Versions in Mind
Ensure that your website is well-suited to all operating systems and web browsers. People have different preferences, and if your website looks the same, you will not miss out on any of your web visitors. Not everyone has the time to update their browsers, so also make certain those visitors that use older versions of browsers have an engaging experience when they visit your site.
Conclusion
The benefits of owning a responsive website are obvious. If internet users can visit your website, navigate easily through it using their cell phones and tablets and be able to place orders without difficulty, you can surely expect an improvement to your brand. In today’s marketing world, having a responsive website is crucial to staying relevant and in business. Endeavor to take advantage of this trend in technology and marketing to boost your online brand and sales. Contact us today for a professional help!