As increasing number of users begin using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to access the internet, you need to ensure that your website is optimized to deliver a pleasant experience to them. Here are a few crucial tips on optimizing your website to handle the slew of new mobile devices.
Unlike desktops or laptops that have larger screens, faster processors, bigger memory, and owners sitting on comfortable computer chairs or lounging on easy-chairs, mobile devices are much smaller, less powerful with smaller RAM, and are mostly used by owners on the go. Your website thus needs to cater to these specific needs since such users will neither have the time or patience to browse through an extensive website full of detailed content and high resolution graphics.
Most mobile device users are put off by high page loading times and will simply bounce away if your website takes too long to load. You need to ensure that your website loads instantly to capture the attention of any tablet or smartphone user. Removing Flash and Java enabled animation will help speed up load times significantly. Since iPhones and iPads do not support Flash, avoiding use of these programs will help you cater to an additional 30 percent of the market that uses Apple products.
In addition, you need to create a website that uses simple design that can be seen, read, and understood on smaller screens. You can stack data and images vertically so that mobile device users only need to scroll up and down instead of also scrolling on the sides. An uncluttered design with low-resolution images for faster loading along with optimum use of white space will please the eyes and senses of mobile devices users.
You certainly need to cut down the content of your mobile-optimized website. You should make sure that you only have precise, keyword-rich, and brief content on your website for mobile devices. This data should look clean on smartphone and tablet screens. You can always insert links that lead curious visitors to your regular website that offers complete details.
You also need to understand that mobile and tablet users normally only have a few buttons to navigate as compared to desktop and laptop users. You need to simplify the browsing process for users of mobile devices by enlarging the size of icons and clickable buttons to make it easy for your users to navigate through your website and make appropriate selections with their fingers. You should also offer zoom facility, drop down menus, and pre populated data fields during entry to make it easier for users of mobile devices.
However, you need to ensure that key elements of your regular website such as logos, brand names, trademarks, etc., are carried over to your optimized mobile device website. These visual elements can make a user feel comfortable in a familiar environment while helping you to quickly establish your brand in a new market.
Mobile device users need a simple website that loads quickly and provides for easy navigation. These tips will help you cater to the specific needs of users of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, and help you reach out to a furiously tapping, untapped market with an optimized website.