Quality web design leads to sales. This is something that has been demonstrated repeatedly. And sometimes your website only needs tweaking, or minor changes, to significantly increase the ratio of traffic to conversions. But now as an increasing number of people predominately use mobile devices to perform web searches, these web design principles can be easy to overlook. So what does the rise in mobile searching mean for companies and businesses? And how can you use mobile web design to boost sales? Well, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester, we are leading web design experts. And we provide top quality web design solutions across Manchester to companies and businesses in a variety of sectors. As a result, we have produced this guide to mobile web design to boost sales.
The rise in mobile searching
Mobile devices have been a popular way to access the internet for a number of years now. In fact, in 2016 mobile traffic overtook desktop traffic for the first time. And this is a trend that has continued to grow. So what kind of effect have these stats had on web design and development? Well, there have been two developments that have come into play quite recently. These include:
- The mobile first ranking algorithm- This ranking algorithm was rolled out by Google, to make sure that websites that are specially designed for mobile users, appear top in the mobile search results. This is because, too many companies were simply using a mobile friendly version of their existing website to provide mobile browsers with a fairly poor user experience. Instances of missing text, or poorly formatted images were common. And Google wanted to improve the user experience for all. For this reason, it is now imperative to make sure that your website is fully responsive. You could be missing out on massive amounts of organic traffic if it is not.
- The mobile website speed update- This update is more straightforward, but was again rolled out by Google. The idea is that a website that loads quickly when opened on a mobile device, provides a more positive, less frustrating user experience. And as a result, load speed was given more weight in the ranking algorithm than it was previously. As a result, to boost sales, you should consider monitoring your website speed. A faster website may boost your SERP positioning and lead to more traffic.
Mobile web design to boost sales
Now that it is important to concentrate on your mobile website, and not just make it “mobile friendly”, you should consider some key mobile web design design principles. These include:
- keep your screen simple and straightforward. Too much clutter, and your mobile website will be difficult to use and challenging. If you are using a responsive web design, make sure the text and image elements are displayed vertically, rather than horizontally.
- use a recognised navigation system. While scroll navigations can be cutting edge on desktop websites, its best to stick with tried and tested navigation methods for web design. Hiding your navigation bar behind a hamburger menu can be a great way to save space, and keep the page clutter free and easy to read
- speaking of text, make sure you keep to the character guidelines for the amount of text per line. On a mobile device it can be hard to read blocks of text, and the spacing between words, and lines, is very important. In fact, it could be the difference when it comes to making a sale.
- keep your call to action buttons on the easier side for the user to reach. When holding a phone you tend to use your thumb, and putting the call to action button out of reach can be enough to put some people off your website altogether
- break down forms or purchasing steps so that there is only one step per page. This can help present a professional image and encourage users to shop with your company
- make sure your website loads quickly, and all stages of the purchasing process also load quickly
For more information or advice about mobile web design to boost sales, or any element of web design, get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Wed Design Manchester.