Industry experts agree – in the near future, we will witness a dynamic growth of everything that relates to mobile. The use of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets is on the rise – Cisco predicts that by 2018, there will be more mobile devices connected to the internet than people on earth!

Mobile platforms can be used by brands to foster consumer engagement – in fact, mobile is expected to become increasingly important in providing a great user experience and improve conversion rates. That’s why web developers should never forget to optimize their websites for mobile devices. How to do that? Read on to find out.

Who Needs Optimization?

As a web developer, you surely realize that it’s your job to know how users behave when browsing the web and build websites that are engaging and able to realize specific goals. If you’re still not sure that it’s worth to invest your time in mobile optimization, have a look at this insightful infographic brought by Demandforce, which grants a glimpse into the behavior of users who browse the web from their mobile devices.

Almost 50% of users feel frustrated and annoyed when a website clearly designed for desktop pops up on their mobile device. Moreover, more than a half of those who had a bad or unsatisfying mobile experience are less likely to engage with brands that thought mobile optimization is just another fleeting fashion and decided not to invest in it.

But that’s not all. A recent study conducted by Google proved that mobile-friendly websites simply boost sales – 67% of users said they would prefer to buy from optimized sites and more than two-thirds of users were likely to quickly leave a mobile-unfriendly website.

The above should by now convince you that mobile optimization is simply something worth looking into, especially if your top priority is providing a really great user experience. Have a look at the guidelines listed below to check whether your website performs well across all possible devices that feature web browsing tools.

The Redirection Issue

First, you’ll need to make sure that, when accessed from a mobile device, your website will be automatically rendered in its mobile version. You can do that by placing special redirects, which will be able to detect whether a user is browsing from a mobile device and redirect him or her to the optimized version of the website. Simple and effective.

Giving Users a Choice

Just because you’ve invested time and money into creating an optimized version of your website doesn’t mean that accessing the full version from mobile devices should be restricted. There are always people looking for a specific kind of information that devs usually omit in their optimized versions – if that’s the case, just make sure to include visible buttons that redirect those users to the desktop version of your website.

User Interface & Layout Optimization

Those two visual aspects are essential if you want to provide a great mobile  experience. The key here is simplicity – mobile devices have small screens, so you need to make the best of what you have by using the space available to you very carefully.

If you’re considering leaving some blank spaces – go for it! They give a sophisticated look to any website, providing a clear interface where users can easily find and click the buttons and links they were looking for.

While we’re on the topic – buttons should be designed for fat fingers, which means that they need to be big enough so no users find themselves struggling to click that little square. Another important aspect is navigation. Users browsing from mobile devices expect to get an easy experience and achieve their goals with just a few clicks – use a streamlined and intuitive layout that will guide users step by step, providing just a few directions at the time.

All those layout tricks will positively impact the user experience and convince users to stay longer on your website – significantly affecting its conversion rate.

Web Design for Mobile

Even if you’re not a big Apple fan, you must realize that iOS makes up for more than 65% of web traffic from mobile devices. This means that if you’re thinking of using Flash to design your website (sounds crazy, but who knows?), you better think twice.

Similarly, Java might not be supported by all phones and it’ll surely take more time to load – and we all know what every second of additional load time does to our conversion rates! Make sure your website loads fast because every second of waiting is bound to negatively impact the user experience and simply annoy.

Apart from that, the design of your website should fit the mobile context. What does this mean? For data entry situations, use drop-down menus, pre-populated fields and checklists. Avoid pop-up windows and keep the number of pages to a bare minimum – both affect navigation and take some time to load. If opening content in a new window is an absolute must, make sure to include a button that will easily take users back to the main page.

What Information Users Search For?

Once you figure out your layout and design, you need to think about the content of your website. Don’t think all users who access it from mobile devices expect a ‘light’ experience – avoid removing content just in the name of simplicity. Some information can be limited, but the majority can be just rearranged to fit the mobile environment – use drop-down menus and make sure everything is easily readable on small screens.

If you’re thinking what information is crucial in mobile, here are some practical pointers on what people usually look for when accessing your website from a mobile device:

• location & opening hours – if you boast an actual brick-and-mortar store, make sure to include its location and opening hours – more than 75% of users will be looking for it. Think about it – if they’re accessing that part of your website, they’re probably outside and intend to visit your store.
• click-to-call functionality – more than 60% of mobile users will appreciate it if you help them to call your customer service without the need to write down the phone number themselves.
• e-mail address – quite simply, make sure contacting you is quick and easy.
• social network pages – in order to maintain and cultivate a relation with your users, inspiring them to come back to your website, include links to your social media platforms somewhere in your layout.

Mobile optimization is a lengthy process, but it’s really worth the trouble. According to Cisco’s recent study on the development of the mobile scene, mobiledata traffic grew by 81% during the last year and will most likely continue to expand until 2018, when it’s predicted to rise to a smashing 190 Exabytes.

Just to help you visualize it – imagine every person on earth sharing 14 Instagram photos every day of the year – that’s the amount of data we’re talking about. As a web developer, there’s nothing left for you than optimize and closely follow the mobile scene – we’re facing a real mobile revolution!