A mobile website

The best website is a mobile website. A very large proportion of internet users visit websites via a mobile phone or tablet PC. Don't miss these visitors and make sure your website is mobile friendly!

A mobile website

According to Statcounter, in August 2020 the mobile phone was the most widely used to view websites worldwide: 51% mobile, desktop 46% and tablet 3%. At the same time it was in Europe: desktop 50%, mobile 46% and tablet 4%. These figures indicate that the internet has become very popular via mobile phones. 

Responsive

A mobile website is responsive. The website adapts its size to the screen size of the visitor's device. A responsive website works with so-called "breakpoints" that determine the screen resolution at which the screen size is adjusted.

Take the following into account:

• Choose a font and font size that is easy to read on a small screen: A sans-serif font with a minimum point size of 14.
• Make call-to-action buttons sufficiently visible and easily clickable on a small screen.
• Do not use pop-ups.
• Use clear icons to save text
• There are many different mobile phone types which can make your mobile website look different on every mobile phone

Navigation

In addition to being smaller than desktop screens, mobile screens also have a different orientation. Most desktop devices have a landscape orientation. Mobile users often view websites vertically, in portrait orientation. Mobile websites are better suited for vertical navigation than horizontal navigation.

On desktop devices, interaction works with a mouse click. On phones, users should tap their choices. Make sure that interface elements (call-to-action buttons, links, and navigation labels) are easy to tap.

On a desktop computer, sub-menu items appear when you move the mouse over a parent main menu item. On a desktop computer, the main menu item can open another page with a click. This is not possible on mobile phones. A click on a main menu item opens the submenu. The main menu cannot open another page because the screen refreshes and the submenu items cannot be selected.

Speed

Mobile phone visitors sometimes use wifi. They often use a slower 3G/4G connection with a limited data bundle. If your website is slow and/or uses a lot of data, many visitors drop out. Make sure your website loads quickly. Don't use too many images. Optimise the images to screen size.

If you want to show price lists (e.g. a restaurant menu), make sure they use little data and load quickly. So no PDF files of 1Mb that are also hard to read on a mobile phone.

Use

Mobile users of your website are often on the move. Make your mobile phone number available as a phone number that can be called with a click. And make sure your address can easily be used to find the right route. For example by linking the address to a Google Map or OpenStreetmap map.

Search engines

Have you optimized your website for search engines? Search engines take the visitor's device into account. A mobile user who searches for information via Google is more likely to recommend a mobile website than websites that only work well on desktop computers.

Search engines also take the location of the visitor into account. Make sure that search engines can easily link your site to your location. For example by Google Company Page or by using microdata (search engine optimisation). 

User experience

A mobile website can be used by visitors from all kinds of devices. Your visitors should not get the idea that the mobile version is just a stripped-down desktop version. Keep in mind that website visitors often see your website differently from a mobile phone:

• The screen size is much smaller than with a desktop PC
• They are often on the move and often quickly distracted
• They are much more targeted and expect to find the most important information quickly.
• There are some online tools that allow you to test your website for mobile devices.

Social media marketing

Is your website social media friendly? Social Media is pre-eminently a medium used by mobile phone users. Make sure your website is easy to share via social media.

Conversion

A mobile website can increase conversion and turnover. If your target audience can easily visit your website with mobile devices, they will be more likely to use your contact form or make purchases.

On mobile phones, it is more difficult to quickly compare different websites side by side. As a result, you are more likely to compete less on price and more on quality and reliability of your website.