More than 90 percent of the world’s population – a reported 6 billion people – have smart phones. This ought to get any sane business owner interested in making their website’s mobile friendly. But where to begin? And how to accomplish such a task effectively, especially when everyone else is racing to do the same?
We’ve got some tips for the savvy marketer (as well as the informed web designer) that will help propel any website to the top of the heap. The first step is to ensure your mobile landing page reels the viewers in. Here’s how to do that.
- Think of your mobile landing page like a newspaper headline. If it doesn’t grab the reader’s attention, you’re sunk. Remember, you’re not dealing with someone sitting at their computer. You’re trying to grab the attention of someone who’s using their mobile device. Not only are you working with smaller attention spans, but you’re also working with much smaller screen space. Headers should be three to four words, no more.
- Utilize responsive web design. This means that your landing page has to know what kind of device is being used to view it. Responsive web design determines this and makes appropriate changes to the layout so that it is rendered optimally for whatever platform the site visitor is using. You don’t want a mobile visitor to click on your site only to find it laid out for standard computer screens. This will require them to pinch and zoom just to find the information they’re looking for. If you do the work for them, you give them one less reason to close out of your landing page – and push them one step closer to giving you their business.
- Think lean and mean. Remember what we said before about mobile users having short attention spans? Now take that into consideration and imagine what the average user will likely do if it takes your mobile site longer than five seconds to load. That’s right – they’ll “x” right out of your life and may never return. You have one chance to make an impression. Don’t blow it by creating a mobile landing page that takes a minor eternity to load up. Five seconds or less should be your goal. This will require your data to be lean and no-frills.
- Design with big fingers in mind. Mobile screens can be tough to negotiate for some. Don’t make it hard for users to click on your landing page items, and remember that the majority of users will likely be using their thumbs and not a stylus. Include plenty of margin space around clickable links to minimize or completely eliminate the likelihood that someone will click on something in error. All links should be designed with fat thumbs in mind, or not at all.
- Make your image content mobile friendly. Certain types of images and scripts won’t load on all mobile devices. Keep this in mind and utilize the most widely accessible tools to design your mobile landing page. Otherwise, you might well not have one at all.
- Cut the fat from your web content. Don’t overload your mobile landing page with too much text, otherwise you’ll have to shrink it down so small just to get it to fit that your visitors won’t be able to read it. Economize words and thoughts. Get basic and get to the point.
- Eliminate roadblocks. If you owned a brick and mortar store that required customers to make it through a maze just to get through your front door, you wouldn’t do much business. The same goes for mobile content. Make actions simple, so that people don’t have to work hard to get to the meat. If your site requires customers to perform more than three actions, you’re asking too much.
- Use geotracking to locate your customers so you can direct them to you. This really comes in handy if you’ve got more than one physical location. With mobile tracking capabilities, you can let a mobile visitor know if they’re right down the street from your nearest shop – all the better to get them to swing by and make a purchase.
- Test, test, and test again. Then when you’re done doing that... test even more. Never allow yourself to be satisfied that your mobile landing page will look good on a particular device until you’ve seen it for yourself.
- Leave your number. One of the things a lot of business owners completely forget when they concentrate on their mobile landing page is the fact that 100 percent of all mobile visitors can call for more information with a single click. Be sure to leave room on your mobile landing page for your business phone number! There’s no telling how many people just might decide to give you a call for more information. For after hours inquiries, it’s also a smart idea to leave your email address so that they can shoot you a message when you’re not around to answer the phone. To encourage immediate contact, consider attaching some sort of promotion – like “Call now and get 10 percent off your order.” It works!
For more tips on web design for small businesses and to keep up with current web design trends, visit artisantalent.com. Artisan not only provides helpful clues for business owners and developers alike, but it’s also a service to help you find the perfect collaborator for your project. Contact us today to learn more.
Vince F is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.