In my last blog I gave some statistics for why your business should have web pages optimized for mobile. When you are building your web page you need to pay attention to some best practices for mobile web sites otherwise your customers will have a poor experience and probably abandon your site.

1. Keep it Quick: If someone is using their phone to search for something they are probably on the go. The site should load in less than 5 seconds and be easy to read. Do not have lots of text and compress images so that they load quickly.
2. Make it Easy to Convert: It is hard to fill out forms and search through content on a phone. Focus on the information and the products people need and eliminate unnecessary steps. Keep forms short, use check boxes and click to call buttons.
3. Simplify Navigation: Keep navigation buttons clear and simple. Minimize scrolling and keep it vertical. Do not use more than seven links per page and make it easy to return to the home page and include a search box for complex sites.
4. Make it Local: Searching for the nearest gas station or that out of the way pizza joint is what mobile search was made for so small local businesses should take advantage of this by having a store locator on the landing page, a click to call phone button and a link to Google maps and directions.
5. Be Thumb-Friendly: I don’t know about you but I have thick thumbs and I hate it when I’m on a mobile site and I press “order” and I end up watching a video.
6. Make it Seamless: People may search for something on their phones then log on to your site using their tablet or laptop. Keep the online experience seamless by keeping the same functionality on all sites including the look and information. If you have a shopping cart make sure it is accessible on all your sites.
7. Design for Visibility: When people tell me that their website is optimized for mobile and you just have to zoom in to read the text a big red light and buzzer goes off that says WRONG! The content should fit on the screen, it should be easy to read and no zooming is allowed.
8. Use Mobile Site Redirects: A mobile site redirect is code that can automatically tell if visitors are using a mobile device and send them to the mobile-friendly version of your site. You can give people the option to go to the desktop site but make it is easy to return to the mobile site.
9. Make Site Accessible: Your site should work on any mobile device, smart phone or tablet. Keep things simple, for example Flash animation does not work on many mobile devices. Optimize your site so it works in both the vertical and horizontal orientation.
10. Listen, Learn and Iterate: We are all a long way away from making the optimal mobile site. Use analytics and conversion tracking to see what works on your site. Ask your users what they like and continue to test and improve your site.

These tips and guidelines came from Google and more information can be found on Google’s Mobilize your site now. Google is a great place to start if you want to learn more about mobile websites. If you use HubSpot your website is automatically optimized for mobile but you may want to check out your pages and to make sure they are working the way you want. You may also want to check out our mobile website services.