Responsive Website Design: Get Your Website Ready for Mobile Users

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1 Responsive Website Design: Get Your Website Ready for Mobile Users

2 Goals of this Whitepaper Everyone has seen the explosion of smart phones over the past few years. Our browsing habits have expanded to these devices, and we've come to rely on mobile web browsing for a multitude of tasks. This white paper will demonstrate: 1. Why you're website needs to adapt to mobile needs right away. 2. Considerations for making your website mobile-friendly.

3 Why Should You Cater to Mobile Users? Smart phone activations have been skyrocketing at a steady pace over the past few years. They have become an integral part of life for most of your customers, and even more potential customers are buying their first or updated smart phones every day. But here's something you may not have considered many studies suggest that users are starting to access the Internet through their mobile device more often than their PC. Most experts agree that the trend will continue in the future as wireless routers become the standard in households and businesses. Mobile Users are Valuable for Local Businesses Google studies have shown that mobile users are extremely likely to take action upon visiting a website. The nature of mobile use means that often the user has a very specific need that must be addressed within a small time-frame. For example, think of the user looking for a new restaurant to try in the neighborhood, the user with an immediate repair need, the user who is running errands and thinks of a needed product. These potential customers are looking to purchase something soon, but they're also often looking for a business or service in their vicinity. Pre-purchase Research is Mobile People that hear about a product/service through referral from friends and advertisements turn to their phones first. It's a quick, easy way to access prepurchase information while it's fresh in their minds. While someone with a hectic schedule is unlikely to make notes about potential purchases, they will take a spare moment to look up your website on their mobile device. Mobile Marketing is a Differentiation Opportunity The last couple of years have seen a rapid increase in mobile ad spend, but it is still at a fraction of desktop ad spend. Take a look at your competition and see how they are adapting to the mobile trend. You'll likely see that it's a gap you can fill to keep your business one step ahead. At the moment, it's also often cheaper to advertise through mobile channels and devices. Quite often your return on investment in mobile ad spend will be higher than traditional media.

4 Mobile Interfaces for your Website Make a Difference Every new mobile device attempts to handle full HTML, but your website needs to offer compatibility for any user. Your eye-catching flash banners aren't accessible for iphone users. Floating navigation bars might look amazing on a desktop, but they'll often take up too much screen space on a mobile device if they even work at all. You are immediately losing revenue if a potential customer can't access all features of your website. If your website isn't optimized for mobile users, they'll leave and head to your competitors that took optimization into consideration. It also makes your company look like it's behind the times. Differences in Mobile vs. Desktop Design Considerations Interface Positioning Website Navigation Viewing Adjustments Load Time and Compatibility Desktop users with broadband connection, mouse, keyboard and large monitor Large viewable area that is easy to reach with mouse and keyboard shortcuts. Interface positioning is extremely flexible per design choices. Mouse allows for simple clicking on interface elements, and web browser navigation does not obscure or decrease view area. All adjustments configurable through web browser and operating system. Keyboard shortcuts also make for quick adjustments and scrolling. High bandwidth allows for extensive use of Flash, video, and high resolution photos/galleries. Load times between pages or associated social media websites is quick and smooth. Mobile users with mobile data connections, fingers, and handheld screen Smart phones are often held in the palm with navigation by thumb. Positioning should favor the bottom of pages for ease of use. Less accurate with fingers and far less view area if web browser elements get in the way. Requires larger clickable navigation in relation to rest of page design. Zoom features rely on imprecise double- taps or finger spreads. Adjustments should be made to size and readability so that zooms are unnecessary. Low bandwidth outside of wireless routers requires lower resolution photos and elimination of all Flash elements. Lower CPU power also slows loading times, and transitions to social media websites often redirects to a mobile app that takes users away from the browser.

5 Adaptive Web Design is the Solution The previous highlighted problems for mobile users can be alleviated through proper design. Every interface and design element can be optimized and scaled to improve mobile performance. Photos and videos can be downscaled to load or stream quicker, and incompatible elements on your current website are made simpler. This results in a website that is accessible by any of the huge variety of mobile devices that are out on the market. Properly designed mobile versions of sites will also help with page rankings on search engines such as Google. Their ranking algorithms take mobile compatibility seriously, and they reward professional web design with best industry practices with higher rankings. You might be surprised at the huge improvement in search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns with a mobile redesign. Your Website Represents your Business on Mobile Devices Most importantly, your website is often your first impression with potential customers. An incompatible, slow-to-load, or confusing mobile version of your website is an enormous turn-off for the sophisticated users of our time. A website that is behind-thetimes makes your business look like it can't keep up with the competition, and it gives the impression that you don't take the time to ensure your customers receive the service they deserve. Update your website as soon as possible with an adaptive design that makes it easier for your mobile customers to find the information and services they're looking for.

6 Contact Us Looking to update your website with a fresh, adaptive design for mobile users? Talk to SiteWired Web Solutions to find the right solution for you! Visit for further information on web design and development, mobile optimization, and SEO campaigns.