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Since the beginning of the first HTML pages, website design has advanced greatly. Thanks to the evolution of mobile technology, development has morphed into a multi-faceted experience. Instead of merely displaying pages to desktop computer users, designs need to engage audiences on smaller screens. Luckily, implementing a site design using systems like WordPress makes addressing […]
Since the beginning of the first HTML pages, website design has advanced greatly. Thanks to the evolution of mobile technology, development has morphed into a multi-faceted experience. Instead of merely displaying pages to desktop computer users, designs need to engage audiences on smaller screens.
Luckily, implementing a site design using systems like WordPress makes addressing mobile engagement easy to handle. The right theme based on WordPress hosting can make all the difference when viewing content on a five-inch wide display.
Even those who do not use the popular content management system can create mobile-friendly websites. Thanks to advancements in HTML5, CSS and PHP, pages can be viewed with ease regardless of what device the visitor is using.
So, what mistakes do developers need to avoid to accommodate the millions who use smartphones and tablets to access the Internet?
A lot of developers make the mistake of not testing on enough devices. Although a website may look attractive using Chrome on a desktop PC, it could look horrible on a smartphone using Firefox.
Not everyone uses the same technology. Even though HTML and other elements are essentially universal, the rendering of the site is not. It’s imperative to test on many platforms to discover if there are problems in the design. Otherwise, developers could inadvertently alienate many visitors.
Flash had its uses back in the day. Now, it seems more like a burden than anything. The same can be said about using JavaScript in site design. Although these tools still can produce some amazing effects, they often slow a site to a crawl when overused. This is especially true if someone has 10 browser tabs open while using Google Chrome.
Limit how much Flash and JS are used in the website. It will improve the performance for both visitors and search engines.
One element a lot of developers forget is the hierarchy of how content is delivered. For example, using some themes with WordPress hosting will cause the sidebars to shift down to show under the content. In this instance, the layout may or may not have a logical flow.
Make sure that elements important on the site are displayed in order. If something is equally important to the visitor outside of the content, it obviously should come second. Testing would help show if this is the case.
Networks based in serving ads is a great way for website owners to make a bit of money. Unfortunately, there can be too much of a good thing. Each advertisement calls out to a third-party server for information. This transfer slows the website.
This isn’t saying that ad-serve networks should be avoided. Just use them sparingly and bear in mind the reduction of site performance. While it may look OK in a desktop environment, too many ads can seem spammy on a smartphone or tablet.
Menu optimization needs to be a priority. Having too much on a top menu bar can easily take away from the user experience on a mobile device. Limit the links that are displayed in this section or develop a hierarchy of content based on a responsive menu.
In the grand scheme of things, the menu item should only have the most vital of elements listed. Not everything needs to be displayed proudly across the top bar.
Aside from menu items, navigation is another mistake that is often overlooked. Mobile users shouldn’t have to pinch-to-zoom in order to click the correct link or press a button on a website. Navigation should be easy to do with two thumbs.
Increasing button sizes is one way to help those on smartphones and tablets. Just don’t forget to add in ALT text to the button images when creating the page. You still want search engines to find those graphics from the ALT tag.
When building a business website, one of the worst mistakes anyone can make is not showing contact information. In fact, approximately 44 percent of visitors will abandon a website if the company information is not present.
It’s all about giving the visitor a good experience. Addresses, phone numbers and even online live chat can vastly improve the trust of a brand while encouraging sales.
Too many people still develop websites with overly large imagery. Even if the website coding shrinks a 3000 wide pixel image to 150, it’s still rendered at its full size. This causes all kinds of speed issues for the visitor.
Two of the best ways to optimize images for virtually any website is to use the correct size of the image and lazy loading techniques. Combined, this can easily improve site performance whether people are visiting from smartphones or desktop computers.
A wall of text is a bad thing regardless of the website design. It looks intimidating to most users and makes it far more difficult to read, especially on smaller displays.
A few ways to avoid this include:
Many developers will focus intently on homepage design. In reality, most visitors may not even see this page. That’s because they will arrive from links to articles, stories or posts that were shared on social media or in search engines.
Development of the homepage is an important part of the site. However, the same amount of effort needs to be put into internal pages as well. In many ways, the internal content will be more important than what someone sees on the front page.
Mobile technology is not a fad that is going away any time in the near future. In fact, devices like smartphones and tablets are used more often than desktop and laptop counterparts. From WordPress hosting to coding a site by hand, addressing ease-of-use for visitors is vital to the success of a website. Develop something everyone can enjoy while avoiding the mistakes listed above.
