Building seamless mobile experiences should not take a back seat to desktop design in your next webpage development project. Unfortunately, many companies fail to see the value in creating quality mobile web pages for their sites or apps.
This isn’t just an artistic tragedy — it’s a costly mistake.
While it is true that many sites are typically designed and managed via desktop, end users can often be found scrolling away on phones and tablets. In fact, over 63% of all web traffic can be attributed to users on mobile devices. Across the top 100 most frequented websites in 2023, there were 313% more visits from mobile users than from those using a desktop.
With figures that high, one has to wonder: Why wouldn’t my site cater to mobile users?
How Mobile Users Influence Overall Traffic
Optimizing for mobile has never been more critical to a site’s reputation and long-term success. Aside from the obvious conversion potential that comes with targeting such a significant portion of overall web traffic, developing a frictionless mobile site can increase the total volume of unique visitors if executed correctly. Google prioritizes sites with a good mobile user experience and ranks them higher. Users coming from social media or email marketing are also likely to be using a mobile device.
Core Elements of Mobile Webpages
When companies build or update the mobile-responsive views of their websites to cater to handheld devices, they must adhere to a different set of design guidelines to capture and retain the attention of their visitors. This is in large part because the mobile browsing experience differs greatly from that of desktops or laptops. There are a few significant components of mobile web design that, when executed correctly, can elevate the end-user journey and increase retention:
1. Concise Content
Whereas a desktop screen can neatly fit large sections of text on a landing page, a mobile view is typically restricted to a much smaller display. As a result, companies must prioritize content to only the most important messaging and information they are looking to relay to their visitors, with additional details revealed by button clicks or opening an accordion.
2. Simplicity
Sites with simple layouts, large hyperlinked icons, dropdown menus, and interactive swiping elements are better equipped to meet the needs of mobile users.
3. Speed
Many mobile users rely on cell networks with spotty coverage zones to access the web throughout the day. Creating a site that is optimized for speed with lightning-quick load times is a great way to ensure user satisfaction.
Getting Creative With Mobile Layout Design
Efficiency is important, without question. People need to be able to find what they need from your site quickly and without confusion. That said, you will want to inject some life into your mobile web pages to keep visitors engaged. Although it may seem like the phrase “less is more” applies to mobile web design, it doesn’t mean that your site needs to appear unimaginative or stripped of all fun and creativity.
The default behavior is to “stack” content; with this approach, columns and sections from a desktop site are simply vertically stacked, one on top of the other. The designer can then optimize the site for performance by removing elements deemed unnecessary for the mobile view.
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with this approach, and it is often sufficient for simpler page layouts or tertiary content pages, but there are far more interesting and engaging layouts that more experienced designers will use to provide an optimal mobile user experience.
Big-Picture Thinking
Using large tiles or images to simplify navigation and reduce vertical scrolling can be highly effective for companies offering a wide variety of products or services. Retail titan Etsy has used this strategy to organize its shopping categories in a clean and consolidated view.
Sliding Sideways
Swiping isn’t just for dating apps and Instagram albums — it’s also a great way to promote touchscreen interactions and reduce on-page clutter.
Tabs or Accordions
Tabs and accordions are a great way to give visitors an initial high-level view of the information on the page, with the ability to dig deeper and view more info without leaving the page.
Regardless of which design you choose, make sure to evaluate your mobile site’s usability and performance to ensure visitors will be able to find what they need in a timely fashion. Collect customer feedback to improve upon past iterations and make frequent site updates to capture your audience’s attention. If you notice your bounce rate spiking, that isn’t a sign to give up on your mobile site! It may, however, serve as a sign to iterate, potentially informed by a usability test such as first-click testing.
About Getfused
Are you thinking about adopting a mobile-first approach? Are you in need of design and user experience support?
Getfused is a robust, full-service creative marketing agency providing in-house services across branding, marketing, and user-centered design to a wide variety of clients. Our team of digital experts collaborates with our partners to iterate on the best user experience and craft customer journeys that are engaging and informative for both desktop and mobile users.
For more information about how Getfused can help your team develop mobile experiences tailored to the needs of your target audiences, please visit our website.
