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Have you ever been browsing on your phone only to land on a site that made you want to actually rip your eyes out because of how hard it was to use and navigate?
Even if the site itself was designed well, there are still little details that can absolutely wreck your experience. One of my biggest pet peeves for website design is having no button that directs you to a navigation app like Google or Apple Maps.
(Apple Maps for the win, by the way.)
If I have to physically copy and paste the address of a location into my navigation app of choice, I am telling you right now that my experience has already started to decline before I even l start moving toward the business.
Not to mention, my day is ruined.
And that’s just one example. There are hundreds of other little nuances of mobile-friendliness that annoy people just as… severely.
When we talk about mobile friendliness, we are referring to a website's ability to provide users with an optimal viewing and interactive experience on mobile devices. This became a big deal close to a decade ago, when Google started ranking mobile-friendly sites higher than non-mobile-friendly ones.
But the use of mobile devices is still trending starkly upward. According to Statista, 85% of U.S. adults owned a mobile device in February of 2021.
Around the time Google launched its mobile-friendliness shift in 2015, that number was around 68%.
Needless to say, mobile-friendliness is more important today than it ever has been and is an important metric that anyone looking to find success online needs to be aware of.
Why Do I Need to Be Mobile Friendly?
There are several reasons why you need to have a mobile-friendly website, aside from making sure nobody's pet peeves are triggered.
First and foremost, it can impact your search ranking. Google's algorithm prioritizes mobile-friendly sites in search results, so having a mobile-friendly website can improve your chances of showing up at the top of the search results.
Secondly, a mobile-friendly website can improve your conversion rate. If a patient can easily navigate your website on their mobile device, they are more likely to engage with your content and ultimately become a patient.
Thirdly, a mobile-friendly website can decrease your bounce rate. If your website is not mobile-friendly, patients are more likely to leave your site quickly and seek information from a competitor whose site is easier to navigate on their mobile device.
Lastly, having a mobile-friendly website can improve the overall experience of your potential patients. If patients have a positive experience on your website, they are more likely to trust you and feel confident in choosing you as their provider.
Plus, they are less likely to complain about not having map buttons on a blog they write.
What Makes a Site Mobile Friendly?
There are several key elements that make a website mobile-friendly:
Scalable Font for Readability
One of the key elements of a mobile-friendly website is having a scalable font for readability. This means that the font size should be flexible and able to adjust to the size of the screen that it is being viewed on.
Some kind of motion graphic showing scalable font.
Mobile devices have smaller screens compared to desktop computers, so it's important to ensure that the font size is large enough to be easily readable without having to zoom in. If the font size is too small, it can make it difficult for patients to read the content on your website, which can lead to frustration and a negative user experience.
On the other hand, if the font size is too large, it can cause the content to be less readable and more frustrating. This can also lead to a negative user experience.
Another important aspect is choosing a font that is easy to read on mobile devices. Some cursive or serif fonts may be difficult to read on smaller screens, so it's important to choose a font that is easily legible at any size.
In addition to font size and style, it's also important to consider the spacing and layout of the text on your website. The spacing between lines and paragraphs should be appropriate to make it easy for patients to read the content without feeling overwhelmed or cramped.
Simplified Navigation Bars
A simplified navigation bar is another key element of a mobile-friendly website. With limited screen real estate on mobile devices, it's important to have a clear and concise navigation menu that makes it easy for patients to find the information they need.
A simplified navigation bar should include only the most important pages or sections of your website such as the About Us, Services, Before and After Gallery, Testimonials and Contact Us pages.
This helps to avoid overwhelming the user with too many options and ensures that they can easily find what they are looking for.
It's also important to keep the navigation bar organized and easy to use. This means grouping related pages together and using clear and concise labels for each section. Avoid using long and complex labels or including too many submenus, as this can make it difficult for patients to navigate the site.
Clickable Links and Commands
Clickable links and commands are an important aspect of a mobile-friendly website. These features allow patients to interact with your website and take action, such as calling your office or, as I politely mentioned in the beginning of this blog, actually finding your location.
In addition to phone numbers and directions, clickable links can also include email addresses, social media icons, and links to other relevant pages on your website or other platforms.
These links should be clearly labeled and easy to access, making it simple for patients to engage with your content.
It's also important to ensure that all clickable links and commands are working properly and lead to the correct destination.
Broken links or incorrect information can frustrate patients and lead to a negative user experience, so it's important to regularly test these features to ensure that they are working as intended.
Intuitive and Pleasing User Experience
The user experience (UX) of a website is critical to its success, especially on mobile devices where users have less screen space and are more likely to be on the move.
To create an intuitive and pleasing user experience, you’ll need to consider several factors:
Visual Design: The visual design of a website is one of the first things that users notice. A mobile-friendly website should have a clean and visually appealing design that is easy on the eyes. This can be achieved by using a clear color scheme, a consistent font style, and appropriate white space to create a sense of balance and harmony.
(There’s way more to it than that, but this gives you a generalized idea.)
Content: The content on a mobile-friendly website should be concise, relevant, and easy to read. It's important to use short paragraphs and bullet points to break up the text and make it easier to scan. Visual aids like images, infographics, and videos can also help to make the content more engaging and memorable.
Calls to Action: Calls to action (CTAs) are buttons or links that prompt users to take a specific action, such as booking an appointment or signing up for a newsletter. CTAs should be clearly visible and easy to access, and they should use persuasive language that encourages users to take action.
(If you need some inspiration for your CTAs, check out this article.)
Loading Speed: According to Kissmetrics, nearly 40% of people say they would abandon a page if it did not load within 10 seconds. Coming on half of your potential audience are straight up leaving your site if the loading speed isn’t up to par. This means optimizing images and videos to reduce their file size and using caching and compression techniques to speed up the loading process, among many other things.
(Keeping the attention of users has become such a pressing issue that it has been coined “The Goldfish Conundrum.)
Touch Control: Mobile devices rely on touch control, so it's important to ensure that the touch controls on a mobile-friendly website are intuitive and easy to use. This means using larger buttons and links that are easy to tap, and avoiding small or hard-to-reach areas of the screen.
By focusing on these factors, you can take steps toward creating an intuitive and pleasing user experience for your site that encourages users to engage with your content and take action.
Want to Know If Your Site Is Mobile Friendly?
Figuring out if your website is mobile-friendly can be overwhelming, but we can help get you on the right path if you aren’t already. Of course, if you are just trying to get an idea of where you stand, as usual, our educators are here to answer any questions you have, anytime, for free. Give us a call at (800) 949-0133 or schedule a one-on-one.