Mobile first design is the new strategy in 2019- Let us know why! Who doesn't know what a mobile phone is? If the present age has a synonym, it would be the mobile age. There's a very good probability that you're reading this article on your mobile phone right now. Isn't it? Mobile offers all the features that a PC has and evens many more. Your mobile is with you all the time; it goes with you wherever you go.
A lot of people visit a website from their mobile phones and what's the use of having a website if it’s not responsive and mobile friendly? A website which runs perfectly on a desktop is of no use as there are more mobile users than the PC or laptop users. Google has made it clear that mobile-first is the new strategy and is the way to go. It is the time to leave the old conventional way of designing a website for desktop behind and work towards designing mobile first websites. Why designing for desktop first is mistake? Why responsive mobile design is not enough and why mobile-first is the only way to go in 2019? There are many WHYs and you will get the answer in this blog for sure. Let us discuss seven strategies to create mobile-first websites.
1. Less is more when it comes to content Yes you read that right! Though it is true that the longer the content is, the more leads will be generated but it happens only when the content is
researched properly and is in-depth. But mobile users have tiny little screens and reading a lot of content might irritate them. To be mobile first, your content needs to be clear and precise, so better keep the mobile first design in mind when writing the content for your blog.
2. Keep your site simple 'Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication' have you heard of that? The truth is, people love simplicity. This applies to web designs as well. Less is more. Keep the website elements that you really need and eliminate the rest. Remove the unnecessary content from your site to simplify your website. It also improves the performance and loading speed of your website. Here are some of the website implications tips
Reduce the number of pages on your site
Use clean lines and wide borders
Use simple and clear font
Keep a maximum two columns on mobile
Keep the content clear and precise.
3. Call to Action Button There is nothing more than clicking on a link from your mobile phone that doesn't load fast. Your call to action button is useless if they aren't designed with mobile in mind. Which means you are missing out on leads and sales? Make sure your CTA is designed mobile-first, too. Test links and consider using mobile-friendly calls to action such as SMS text message and live chat.
4. Test, measure and optimize To test how your website would look on mobile, test it on the recent iphones or android phones to make sure there are no bugs. Track the clicks using Mix Panel or your favourite analytics software. Keep running the mobile website until your conversion is healthy. Since mobile contains a lot lesser space than desktop, you should optimize it a lot faster.
5. Graphic design for mobile first You might have a question “is graphic design really important for mobile first?” the answer will be yes. Well designed websites are considered as more trustworthy and easy to use. So how does mobile first graphic design look like?
Vivid colours
Strong typographical elements
Real photographs
original, handwritten illustrations and designs
contrasting colour schemes
Use graphic design tools to create memorable, trustworthy and easy to use website simple.
6. Copy, fonts, images and menu For mobile first website, make your copy really simple and shiny. Use branded fonts and make font larger and clearer enough for everyone to read. Also use less text and more images. Images play a vital force in any website. Everyone loves images and love clicking on them. A picture is worth a thousand words! So make sure that the images links are placed at the right place and it takes the users where they want to go. Use a standard menu and place it on the top left of the page.
7. Mobile internet usage has surpassed desktop usage in 2016 The number of people using internet on mobile phones have surpassed those using the internet desktops. The number of mobile users has been increasing since October 2006. According to a study the percentage people using internet in mobile phones from October 2006 to October 2016 is 51.3% and those using in desktop is 48.7%. This shows mobile internet usage has been increasing and surpassing the desktop usage.
Conclusion The present age is the mobile age and there are more mobile phones users than desktop users. The desktop computer is dying. Just mobile responsiveness is not enough to keep mobile users on your site. If you want to create a website which is easy to use and which the users and Google both love, mobile first site is the strategy you must adopt. In this blog, we have discussed seven strategies to create mobile-first websites and why they are important. Keep working on creating content, images, CTAs and communications while keeping a focus on mobile users. Apart from the strategies we mentioned in this blog, do you have your own strategies/tips to share? If yes, then please share them with us in the
comment section below.