Toggle Menu

Is your web site losing you business?

The latest news from Creative-i-Design

Earlier this year we crossed a significant threshold: more than 50% of UK internet traffic was from smartphones. That means half of your web site's visitors might be using smartphones.

Have you looked at your web site on a smartphone? Is it usable?  If your web site doesn't work properly on a smartphone, you're potentially losing business.

The easiest way to check is to look at a web browser on your desktop, and resize the browser gradually to make it narrower.  As you do, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Does the site change as the browser gets narrower?
  • Do the images resize?
  • How does the navigation menu change?
  • Can you still read the text when the browser is around the same width as a smartphone?
  • Check any widgets you have on the site, like twitter feeds or pop-ups – do they work OK?
  • How to your forms and galleries display?

And don't forget tablets. If you don't have one, borrow a couple from friends and try them out.  Ideally, you want a normal and small tablet. Try them out in both portrait and landscape mode. It's complicated, isn't it? 

In days gone by, some sites used to have two entirely separate sites – one for desktop/laptop screens, another for mobile devices. Nowadays, we have the tools to create one site that changes the display layout, reducing your investment costs and giving your more bang for your buck.

You'll hear designers talking about "responsive" web sites. It means a site that adapts itself to display differently on different devices so it's legible, usable and navigable.

Responsive web sites from Creative-i-Design

To give you an idea of just how complex this is, here's the list of browsers and devices we use to test a new site:

Browsers (current & previous version): Native, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, Dolphin, Evolution. Devices (current & previous OS):Windows Desktop, Windows Laptop, Mac desktop, Mac laptop, iPad, iPad mini, Android tablet, Android mini tablet, Kindle, iPhone, Android phone, Blackberry phone. That's 16 browsers and 24 machines!

If you're not 100% certain that your web site works as YOU NEED IT TO WORK, get in touch with us at Creative-i-Design and we'll talk you through the options.

 

 

BACK TO NEWS

SHARE THIS SITE ON FACEBOOK SHARE THIS SITE ON TWITTER