When it comes to designing and creating a website that can drive traffic, and boost sales, you need to put time and effort into research. Using tried and tested methods can be much more effective than a stab in the dark, but when you want your website to stand out, you also need to take risks. Balancing this creativity with usability can be a real challenge. But the results will speak for themselves. And in the modern digital era, where mobile search outranks desktop search on a daily basis, it’s important to create a quality user experience, and design, for both mobile and desktop users. Here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester, we are Manchester’s leading web design experts. And we provide high quality, responsive web solutions for companies and businesses around the region. Helping to grow sales and increase company awareness. As a result, we have produced this guide to the importance of web design testing for desktop and mobile users.
The importance of web design testing for desktop and mobile users
Whenever you design a website, you need to test all aspects of it to ensure a positive user experience, as well as functionality. But testing only for desktop users, or only for mobile users, will not help. Your web design needs to be tested thoroughly for all users, on all platforms. This is because:
- You cannot be sure which device your next website visitor is going to be using. And reserving the best version of your website for desktop customers, is not going to provide a positive user experience for your mobile users. In fact, this could result in a loss of sales or conversions.
- The whole point of designing and building a website is to show off how great your company is. So you need to make sure your website really shines, no matter which device you use. And all versions of your website need to be thoroughly tested for usability, functionality and style. Preferably by more than just your team.
- In terms of search engine optimisation, if your mobile site is not up to scratch, you could see a drop in page rankings on Google, thanks to a change in the ranking algorithm.
- A website with broken links and missing information leads to potential customers forming a negative opinion of your company.
So, what should you focus on when testing?
When testing your web design, you need to focus on several areas. These include:
- links and navigation options
- readability
- images and videos
Links and navigation options
There is nothing more frustrating than clicking a broken link on a website. Don’t frustrate your users! Make sure all your links work, and lead to the right place. And make sure your navigation options are easy to follow.
Readability
Your font and typography needs to be readable on all screen sizes. This usually becomes an issue when testing your mobile site, because of the smaller screen size. But users can’t buy your products, or user your services if they cant read the writing! So make sure that this test is one of your priorities.
Images and Videos
Images that look great on a mobile device, might not have the size or the quality to look impressive on a desktop. And this can lower the quality of your website. So always check that images and videos are optimized to respond to screen size.
For more information or advice, get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester.