How To Design A Mobile Friendly Website In 12 Steps

1. Be responsive. Use a responsive technology framework.

2. Think with your thumb (or index finger). Make sure your site is completely navigable with one thumb and requires no pinching to use.

3. Keep the design simple. A clean design and focused copy can go a long way.

4. Keep content short and sweet. People fall in love with their [website] content and it makes the mobile site too cluttered.

5. Remember, an icon is worth a thousand words. To keep your site from looking cluttered, use conventional mobile [icons], rather than words for the tap to call, connect socially or find the menu.

6. Make it fast — by serving images that are optimized for mobile. The mobile Web is considerably slower than its FiOS and cable-powered cousins.

Consider that mobile devices operating under a 3G network are still considerably lagging behind in download speeds and that many mobile users out there pay for bandwidth use. 

7. Don’t go overboard with Java. DO not use excessive JavaScript in your mobile websites where possible, because it runs differently across different browsers and devices.

8. Make it easy to find your phone number, location, and contact info. Keep in mind the context in which your site will be used on mobile.

Most of the time users are looking for store hours, a contact or booking number or perhaps the business’s nearest location.

9. Consider video, but add it wisely. Video is an absolute must-have for any mobile site.

Use a video player that’s lightweight (doesn’t consume valuable bandwidth.

10. Make sure forms are designed for mobile. Request the minimum amount of information that you need in order to contact a lead.

11. Consider geolocation. Take advantage of mobile capabilities such as geolocation. Businesses can use geolocation to give directions.

12. Test to ensure your content can be properly viewed on different devices. Remember to test the mobile user experience by the operating system to improve the overall site experience with usability testing.