Enjoy this week’s guest post by Sarah Munn of Phoenix Web Design!
In 2008, Mary Meeker, an analyst at Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers that reviews technology trends had a bold prediction, “Mobile to overtake fixed internet access by 2014.” That same year, Google’s Eric Schmidt urged businesses to consider the ‘Mobile First’ approach when designing web experiences.
More than a decade later, mobile usage has increased significantly across all demographics. Now, mobile accounts for at least half of the total web traffic worldwide. Interestingly, this trend has not shown any signs of slowing down, with the Ericsson Mobility Report predicting an additional 25% increase in the overall mobile traffic by 2025.
Nowadays, mobile optimization has become an integral part of most brand’s digital marketing strategies. If this is something you are also considering, below are some of the best mobile-first practices you should keep in mind:
Get rid of the navbar
On your desktop or laptop, your navbar can be massively beneficial. After all, it can help your visitors browse the pages on your site quickly. In essence, the navbar is designed to help people find whatever they are looking for in the fastest way possible.
However, on mobile, the navbar can take up a lot of space that can be used for images, text, or other content. Now, you’re probably wondering how your visitors can browse your site online without a navbar. Fortunately, there are a few workarounds you can look into.
Consider incorporating a hamburger menu, which allows you to use a smaller yet branded top bar. The hamburger menu can function as a drawer, pulling out from your screen’s left side to show the menu items in the navbar.
Depending on your webpages’ size, you also have the option to create a single-page layout that’s made, especially for mobile devices. However, if your website is sparse on content, this is not the best option available for you.
Ensure the key elements are within reach
The fact that people are spending a significant amount of time on their smartphones is no longer up for debate. If you’re like most people, you’re most likely using one of your thumbs to interact with the screen.
Here’s an interesting fact: according to a study done by mobile UX expert Steve Hoober, at least 75% of people use their thumbs to interact with their mobile phones!
Taking the above discovery into account, it is recommended that content is organized to put the primary interactions front and center. The secondary and tertiary functions should be saved for the bottom and top screen edges.
Minimize and optimize file size
The importance of optimizing the size of the images on the website cannot be overstated. They affect load time significantly. This also has a cascading effect on both the search rankings and the user experience.
Minimizing and optimizing file size is especially important on mobile. After all, mobile users don’t like waiting, and connections are not that reliable on mobile. In other words, if your page is not loading fast enough, most people won’t have the patience to stick around and wait for it to load completely.
In line with this, consider using tools like TinyJPG or ImageOptim to minimize the file size of the images before it is uploaded on the website. Two primary elements affect file size:
Size/resolution
The actual size of the image has a massive impact on the file size. Understandably, you don’t want to make your pictures so tiny that visitors can no longer see them. If the column where you’ll place the image is only 600px wide, your image doesn’t have to be 1000px wide. In similar scenarios, it is advisable to resize the image to fit before uploading.
Quality
When you turn down the quality setting of an image, you will also be reducing the sharpness of the picture. It can also increase the likeliness of artifacts appearing in your pictures.
Make responsiveness a priority
When designing your website for mobile optimization, creating a layout that responds and changes based on the device used is considered ideal. In essence, a responsive web design is defined as “the approach that suggests that design and development should respond to the user’s behavior and environment based on screen size, platform, and orientation.”
When it comes to responsiveness, the following factors need to be taken into account:
Order/layout of content
Depending on how the elements are organized on your desktop, it can become awkwardly ordered when you shift to mobile. Ensure all your content is in order, regardless of the devices used.
Image size
Since images are essential to your page’s content, ensure they are also clearly visible when viewed on mobile. It is crucial to keep in mind that images that are 50% width on desktop may also appear at 50% on mobile.
Video
When on mobile, consider hiding or removing videos. Videos are heavy, large, and can slow down the mobile experience dramatically.
Animations
Animations that look good on desktop might not work just as well on mobile. Check the animations on your phone before you publish them on your page to make sure they look okay.
Wrap Up
Hopefully, the mobile design best practices mentioned can help you streamline the user experience for people who visit your sites using their smartphones and other mobile devices. When mobile visitors have a seamless experience on your site, it’s a win for you as they are also more likely to convert.
Sarah Munn is the Outreach Manager of Phoenix Web Design, a web design company based in Phoenix, Arizona that specializes in creating bespoke and responsive websites that will surely grab people’s attention. When not writing content, she spends time with her grandparents and also giving back to the community.
The post Mobile Optimization: Best Mobile First Practices to Keep in Mind appeared first on Melissa Forziat Events and Marketing.