The Basics of Mobile-Friendly Web Design Explained

Each day, the importance of mobile-friendly web design becomes more and more obvious. We use mobile devices for everything these days. Whether it’s to check social media, get news, or make a purchase, smartphones are more than ever how we do it. Make no mistake that desktops and laptops are still a major factor, helped in no small part by increased remote work situations. However, a responsive website design is a critical element of your digital marketing strategy.

It’s now inconceivable that any company would ever consider not having a mobile-friendly web design. What was once considered an extra feature has now become essential for businesses trying to increase their Google ranking. 

So what features should viewers expect to find when they land on a mobile-friendly website? Here are five things that should be obvious:

1. An Easy-to-Navigate Mobile Friendly Web Design is Obvious

By far the most important feature of a responsive website design is the ability of viewers to navigate through it easily. Nothing will drive web users away faster than navigation that is clumsy, awkward, and difficult to understand.

Over the years, mobile designs have become dominated by icons for navigation. Since people have come to instinctively understand what certain icons mean, web developers can rely on simple icon layouts for navigation. The result is navigation that is fast and easily understood by most users.

2. Backgrounds Aren’t Too “Busy”

Mobile web designs are generally simplified versions of their corresponding desktop designs. This means more complicated backgrounds created for desktop must be simplified for mobile-friendly web designs. A busy background makes for a bad mobile viewing experience. While the mobile version should be less complex than the desktop version, it should reflect at least vaguely similar design elements. If viewers were to flip back and forth between a desktop and a smartphone to view your website, they should feel that the viewing experience is similar (although clearly not identical). 

Remember also that simplifying backgrounds will be necessary on a partly technical level. A simpler background loads faster, which is always a concern in both desktop and mobile-friendly web designs.

3. “Less is More” Color Palettes

Most responsive website designs tend to favor a simplified color scheme. With a mobile-friendly website, white space will be more prominent and a complex color scheme will generally be reduced. 

The appropriate use of color in mobile designs is valuable for reasons that go beyond aesthetic value. People tend to scroll more quickly on a mobile device than on a desktop. When they encounter any bursts of color, they tend to pause. When they pause, they look closer at images or content. Therefore, colors can be used to draw attention toward particular content.

4. Leading-Edge Swiping Functionality & Gestures

Gestures and swiping functionalities are design aspects unique to mobile-friendly websites. This involves all of that tapping, double tapping, pinching, and dragging we do when on our smartphones. It’s the job of custom website designers to understand what gestures and functionalities are popular and incorporate them into mobile-friendly web designs as appropriate.

5. An Interface That’s Truly Intuitive

An interface must never feel intimidating or difficult to use. In the end, people shouldn’t feel as if they are somehow not smart enough to navigate a website on their smartphone. Regardless of what kind of devices viewers are using, the experience must be free of frustration.

No design can anticipate how every single person will want to navigate a website. There are certain actions, however, that most people will take when they land on a page. An intuitive design helps create a sense of familiarity and it puts the user at ease. Those are both good ways to get viewers to remain on your website.

Mobile-Friendly Web Design Is Crucial To Website Success

How viewers interact with websites is always changing. At the same time, developers must continually look for new ways to improve the viewer experience. Make a mobile-friendly web design your top priority this year. Dreamscape Marketing has the knowledge and experience in digital marketing services needed to take your responsive website to the next level. Call us today at 888.307.7304 and let’s discuss how we can increase your web traffic with a mobile-friendly web design.