Mobile site best practices

Menu on the right

When using a mobile device the menu should be down the right, not left. With studies showing up to 90% of the world’s population are right handed think about it: when you are using the menu the last thing you want a user to do is move their hand across the screen hitting everything with their palm. Put the menu on the right side where it is easily accessible with the right hand, without obstructing any page content.

No pops up

Most of us know that pop ups on mobile devices don’t work but when trying to squeeze a lot of content on a mobile device it is easy to go back to the faithful pop up. Avoid it at all costs! If you need a way to show more information think about using an accordion style instead of a pop up.

Reduce your content

Mobile browsing naturally means people will absorb less information, instead of pasting all your content from the main website think about dropping elements and changing headings to be more mobile friendly. Using modules is an easy way to do this.

Minimise functionality

Users are trained to know that a mobile friendly site means less functionality. Instead of trying to fit every functional feature into your mobile site, learn to cut down on this. Keep focused on the key journeys for the user and of course the journeys which will create revenue for your business.

If transactional use Paypal!

Even if you don’t use paypal on your desktop site you need it for mobile. Mobile conversions are quickly surpassing desktop conversion and mobile sites with Paypal will almost double this. Think about it, on a small device with limited space, the user is generally “mobile” and out and about (on the bus), the last thing they want to do is reach for their credit card and typing in CC numbers. Paypal stops the need for this and will increase conversion on a mobile device by up to 40%.

Be kind to big fingers

This seems like an obvious one but so many times mobile optimised sites have tiny links within body content. Users should not have to pinch and zoom on a mobile site! Buttons or links should be a minimum of 40px by 40px.

View full site link

 

There should always be an option in the footer for the user to go back to the full site. It is important to give users the option to go back to what they are used to. The last thing you want us for the user to get stuck in an infinite re-direct loop, make it easy for them.