A Design for all Devices
Back in the early days of the internet, there was Internet Explorer, and Netscape Navigator. Later came Firefox, Safari, Opera and, perhaps most disruptively of all, Chrome.
And each time a new browser was launched to the market, online marketing companies and web developers faced the question of whether to design sites for full cross-browser compatibility with it, or whether to focus solely on the existing market leaders.
But the days of websites proudly stating “Optimised for Microsoft Internet Explorer 7+″ are gone, and now the question is an even broader one – how do you design a website that works well not just in any desktop browser, but on smartphone and tablet displays too?
The Right Response
The current ‘correct’ answer to that question is to use responsive web design, carefully crafted Cascading Style Sheets that strip out the unnecessary and non-compatible elements of each page depending on which device is being used to access it.
Google support this method, and it’s more elegant than a complete site-wide redirect that takes mobile visitors to a significantly reduced version of your site.
However, you should think carefully about what elements of your page will actually work on a mobile device, and which ones need a responsive alternative.
Getting Around
The obvious concern should be navigation. If visitors cannot navigate your site to reach your content, they will leave.
In particular, make text and image links big enough that they are easy to tap on a small touchscreen; and remember that many touchscreen devices have no concept of ‘hover’, so some hyperlink CSS effects and dropdown menus will need to be accounted for in a different way.
A Glass Half Full
Aside from your navigation, you also need to make sure your content is mobile-friendly, and that means keeping Javascript and Flash video files to a minimum.
But this is no bad thing; you can again simply hide those elements with responsive CSS, and make sure you have clear text descriptions to show in their place.
Why is this good? Well, apart from being mobile-friendly, it gives your site plenty of search-visible text, doubling the positive impact of taking this step on your site.
The Personal Touch
The best advice is to take wide-ranging measures with a pinch of salt. You know your website, and your audience, better than anyone (or, at least, you should).
Audit your site’s performance across all the mobile devices you can get your hands on – beg and borrow (but probably don’t steal) devices from friends and colleagues until you’ve tested it on all the leading smartphones and tablets, and all the main mobile operating systems.
Only then will you know for sure which parts work, and which would benefit from the creation of a responsive and cross-platform mobile alternative within your site’s CSS.
