Smartphone Websites: How To Avoid The Common Mistakes

An increasing number of people around the globe are accessing the web on their smartphones. New figures released by Statista show that in 2013, 17.4% of web traffic came via mobile, this represents over a 6% rise since 2012 (when mobile traffic represented 11.1%).

As a direct result of this trend, smartphone-optimised websites are on the increase. However, there are a number of common mistakes often seen on these sites that can be easily avoided. We’ve compiled a list of those to help solve or avoid any issues and achieve optimum user experience:

1. Speed is Everything

   Pages load times are particularly crucial to mobile users, so think of optimising your site’s speed. Most people on smartphones are on the move and attention, as well as time, is often limited. A great tool to use to check your site’s speed is Google’s PageSpeed Insight.

2. Beware of Videos

   Many websites owners spend a lot of time and efforts developing great videos with their brand design agencies to captivate their audiences’ attention. However, it is a fact that many videos will not play on smartphones due to a range of problems such as licensing restrictions, device capability issues, etc. As a result of this, it is crucial to ensure that your videos can be played on the majority of devices. Also think of using a transcription of the content as an alternative.

3. Make sure you review your redirection protocol

   Many smartphone sites have issues with redirections. For example, it is a common mistake to be redirected from a desktop site to an unrelated URL on the smartphone site. There are also sites that redirect users on some mobile devices but not all of them.

4. Avoid Apps Interstitials

   Promoting your website’s app to your visitors can work against you if you use interstitials, as users find them increasingly disruptive. Good web design companies will be aware of this and propose to use smaller format ads to let your users know your app can be downloaded.

5. Review 404 pages for Smartphones

   Some of your website’s content might not be available in a smartphone friendly format. In that case, instead of showing a 404 page, you should serve the desktop page instead. It is always better to show users the information they were looking for than an error page.

Our top 6 future web design trends

As a web design agency, it’s our job to look to the future as trends come and go like the latest fashion. Look at any website that was considered ‘cutting-edge’ two years ago and the chances are it’ll feel out-dated and obsolete today. If you want to communicate a fresh and progressive image to your clients, it’s important for your company or brand to keep abreast of the very latest web design techniques and stay ahead of the game.

Here are our six predictions for the future:

1. More experiments, greater freedom:

   Advances in browser technology have enabled developers to experiment more with typography. Now it’s possible to personalise your design with a range of different web fonts that give you greater control over type on the web. It’s more practical than ever for developers to create completely bespoke solutions that give visitors a consistent brand experience.

2. Increased use of social media:

   It has never been easier to connect with your potential customers and clients in real-time. Social media has revolutionised digital marketing and the way we live our lives. It’s essential for brands and businesses to join social platforms as part of a greater content marketing strategy. Targeting users on social platforms with high quality, information-rich content is a great way to stoke interaction, start a debate and drive traffic to your website.

3. More speed, more videos:

   With the advent of 4G internet, web design in London has changed forever. The capital is one of the first areas in the UK to benefit from the speed that 4G connectivity boasts, allowing developers more freedom to produce data intensive websites bursting with functionality. Of course, one of the biggest up and coming trends is the increased use of video. Publishing a short and professional video about your business or brand is a great way to engage users the second they hit your website.

4. Simplicity:

   As a direct consequence of faster connection speeds, websites could easily become more crowded with media, widgets and distractions. It will be harder for visitors to decipher the message that websites are trying to convey. For that reason, we will witness an emergence of websites that go against the grain by taking a simple approach. They’ll be minimalistic, straight to the point and refreshingly different from the rest of the pack.

5. Quality over quantity:

   Website visitors want quality content, not pages upon pages of supplementary information. The only way to engage users on your website is to give them what they want, which means working on concise, quality content that gets straight to the point.

6. No mobile, just responsive:

   In the past, companies have developed dedicated mobile websites. As screen sizes continue to diversify it’s becoming harder for web design companies to tailor their websites to a specific screen resolution. In most cases, the best way forward is fully responsive web design, where sites look great on any screen whether they’re viewed on the smallest smartphone or the biggest desktop flat screen display.