Waiting in line at the grocery store, the bus stop, or in any other boredom-eliciting situation, we hop on our cell phone and head to one of our favourite websites. We are expecting to a fully functional browsing experience, with an unfriendly mobile site, which frustrates and confuses us. We quickly exit the browser and choose a different, more efficient site or portal to spend our time. Making a quick mental note not to visit that site on our mobile phone in the future, we easily categorise that company as outdated, out mode-led, obsolete.
Most people don’t realise that when they pay the high price for web development, it doesn’t just stop at the desktop. Our daily use of desktop computers compared to mobile phones is significantly less. It means we’re viewing the majority of the content we absorb, whether through social media or on websites- on our phones.
We have become so accustomed to easy-to-use apps and sites that when we experience the opposite, our patience stretches only so far. What does a mobile-unfriendly site look? Why is it a problem? How does it lead to a loss of sales for the company? And what exactly does that mean for the business owner? We’ll detail the many real problems of website translation and how to optimise your site for mobile, so you don’t fall victim to this unfortunate tech fault.
What is an “unfriendly site”?
Un-friendly sites are often designed solely with the desktop version in mind, disregarding the fact that in our modern-day, most people view sites from the palm of their hand. The other circumstance of a site being unfriendly is a website that has broken links, is insecure, or is generally difficult to navigate for the user. How does this compare with a friendly site? Generally speaking, on a well developed, friendly website, the text is easily readable, links and navigation are clickable, and it’s easy to consume the content. Content is organised logically under related navigation bars, and the user doesn’t have to struggle to find the answers and the content they seek.
Lost in Translation
Today, some 60 to 70% of all websites are viewed on a mobile phone. This exemplifies how important it is to have a mobile-friendly site or an app that users can enjoy and have zero browsing difficulties with. Often, when sites are not optimised for mobile, whole pages of the webpage, such as navigation bars and sidebars go visibly missing until the user zooms out all the way. These hidden components could very well be crucial information or invaluable “clickbait” that the user will never view because it’s merely un-visible. Your products, messages, and visual content become lost in translation.
E-commerce Sites
If you have an online business or shop, your e-commerce capabilities are comparable to a storefront- if your doors are closed, no one can get in to buy your goods. Your online shop component is essentially what makes or breaks your e-commerce business. And with COVID changing our purchasing landscapes to a mostly online existence, its never been more important to have a beautiful, user-friendly, error-free site. Any e-commerce site unoptimised for mobile is, without a doubt, costing you sales purely due to its inefficacy. When it’s too difficult for the user to plug in their information, or find the right buttons to purchase the good, they quickly leave your site and ditch their purchase altogether. As a top digital marketing agency here in Melbourne, we, unfortunately, see this happen every day on the backend of our analytics software. Our agency works tirelessly to understand the Achilles heel of our clients by tracking metrics and taking a deep dive into their user experience. When we see multiple instances of abandoned carts through Shopify metrics, this signals to us that the site is probably causing these losses. This applies to both desktop and mobile adaptations, which is why it’s so crucial to have a handle on both mobile and desktop.
How to Avoid an Unfriendly Site
Now that you know the dangers of a broken e-commerce site, how can you ensure you don’t fall into that category? A great website will be able to understand if the user is viewing from a desktop, iPad, or mobile device, and immediately redirect the user to the appropriate, adopted site. This technology is only realised through the work of an expert website developer who knows exactly what they’re doing.
Work with a well-versed SEO marketing agency that has access to the best web developers around. Web development is never something to disregard when building your online business. Check out the leading SEO and digital marketing agency in Bacchus Marsh, MFCS to start your free consultation today!
