Is your website mobile friendly?

If your not for profit website is not mobile friendly then you are potentially missing out on significant opportunities.  It is not just the rapid growth in mobile technology through smart phones, iPads and other mobile devices but the fact it is expected that by 2015, website searches via mobile devices will exceed searches from a desktop.

Therefore, just relying on your standard website is not practical as you should have a mobile friendly website.  Here are some brief guidelines to help you design your mobile website.

  • Simplify and reduce the content.  A mobile screen is a lot smaller so only have relevant and the important content.   Do not clutter up the screen with too much information and ensure the text is easy to read.
  • The layout should make it easier for the users to get the required information quickly and make it easy to act on it.  Only include the information that users will require and avoid the need to click on multiple pages.  On the main pages do not include, for example, history about your organisation, biographies, vision and mission statements.  Once you bore the customer they will leave your site and go to you competitor.
  • Try to avoid the need to scroll sideways as it is better to just scroll downwards with all the relevant information is a single column.
  • Make navigation easy on the mobile website.  Whereas on a desktop you will use a mouse on most mobile devices you will often use your finger.  Therefore, on your mobile website use icons that allow the user to navigate and access information with their finger or for non-touch screen users ensure the icons are easy to access and click on.
  • A simplified design and layout should also result in quicker load times.  In addition, try to avoid the use of Flash that is not support by Apple products and Java can also add to load times.  Hence, avoid the use of fancy graphics or animations as these will increase the load times.  

These points are intended to give you some ideas about the design and layout of your mobile website but there may be other issues you may need to consider depending on your organisation and the products or services you provide.  Take a few minutes and access your current website via a mobile device to see how these points relate and impact on the accessibility of your site.

The important issue of this information is to emphasise the need to make your website mobile friendly so you can adapt to the changing nature of how people can access your website.