Mobile is the new normal. You see that everywhere. But why aren’t you seeing as many conversions on the mobile site front?
As a developer, designer, and marketer, you’re faced with the task to create a website with a unique brand identity. And ultimately, a website that would convert visitors into customers. But in a bid to be unique, the tendency to be adventurous with design can sometimes do more harm than good.
And sometimes, the main culprit for this is hiding in plain sight — more than you think.
Case in point: Your site menu’s navigability.
Don’t Mess Navigation Up
Navigation has an important role to play in the users’ onsite experience. That’s why this is one function of the website that you can’t afford to mess around with.
There are so many more places where you can exhibit your creativity and ingenuity as a web developer or designer; so many more parts of the page where you can add eye-catching elements. But your site’s navigation should remain as a reliable cornerstone that’s uncomplicated and straightforward.
Site visitors must know where it is at all times. So whenever they come back, they’ll always easily find their way around your website.
Of course, you’re free to play around with pop-ups, full-page menus, left-aligned menus, etc. But make sure that whatever you choose to do, it would be effective at making your visitors feel at ease.
How to Design Mobile Site Menus for Conversion
What works for one website isn’t one hundred percent guaranteed to work for another. This is why A/B testing is an important part of the process. But before you dive deep into uncovering your own results, take time to look at what others say.
Now, this is what a navigable menu would normally look like in desktop view.
But when designing for mobile, adjustments have to be made. And sometimes, you end up creating a hidden menu — kept behind a symbol and otherwise known as a hamburger menu.
But sometimes the best option is to make it clear right away and have the word Menu printed clearly on a hidden button for the mobile menu website.
And if something isn’t quite right about how visitors are interacting with your website, the navigation is the likely culprit. So here are some tips we ought to consider in designing a mobile site menu that encourages conversions.
#1 Keep it simple
The more pages you try to cram into a single space, the more you end up confusing people. So you can either keep the large majority of the menu options lower on the page or opt for a simplified layout all together.
#2 Lead users to the homepage
Always link your logo back to the home page. For a fact, 36% of people use it to navigate back to the very beginning. Take this site for example. Despite all the other elements standing loud and clear, the logo is still prominent. It attracts clicks and tells visitors that they can use it to return to the homepage.
#3 Organize by priority
As attractive as it is to arrange things by ordinal number or via alphabetical sequence, don’t do it. Arrange your menu based on priority instead. A little thing called the serial position effect claims that pages that appear closer to the top or bottom of a list will grab more attention in visitors’ minds.
#4 Be generous with the width
For each screen size, build your menus as wide as you can. This makes the text easier to read, and buttons easier to tap or click. Maximize as much space as you can, so page titles are always large and readable.
#5 Make use of micro-interactions
Micro-interactions enhances a user’s experience on the website. You don’t notice them all too often, simply because you already expect them to be there. And that fact is why micro-interactions are crucial. Every micro-interaction has a purpose, and you need to consider closely why you chose that specific action.
So ask yourself what kind of message you are striving to convey to your users. Simple micro-interactions can be as simple as text highlighting in red when you hold your finger over it.
#6 Menu should be omnipresent
Make sure your navigable menu sticks. No hiding; no unwarranted disappearing. This is so visitors don’t have to worry about locating it again as they navigate from one page to the other.
Designing for Mobile Conversions
All that aside, don’t feel overly confident in the fact that you’ve followed all the rules and now navigation experience is superb. Even if your instincts tell you that you’re right, your visitors and users might think otherwise. Anything that poses a threat to how smoothly they experience a website is detrimental to your goals for conversion.
We said it before, and we’ll say it again. Don’t ignore the importance of A/B testing your web design. It’s an absolute must. But here are a couple of takeaways you need to remember as well:
- Keep it simple: Fast and simple design is clean and straightforward. It provides what your visitors need. And because of that swiftness to deliver, you instantly hit a sweet spot with new and returning users alike.
- Always keep user intent in mind: Keep it in mind and match it. Find out why your visitors are coming to your mobile site and what they are trying to do there.
- Help users fulfill tasks: Help your users accomplish what they came to do. So make things easier for them by catering to their every comfort — where web design is concerned.
Mobile users choose smartphones because it’s conveniently-sized. But the smaller screen size can leave others to struggle. So it’s your job as a product or service provider to make sure your customers are absolutely comfortable as they find out more about you.
Bio: Al Gomez is a Digital Marketing Consultant at Dlinkers and Sagad. With more than twelve years of digital marketing experience in search engine optimization, paid search and email marketing, he has contributed to a variety of online publications including Moz, Semrush, and Wordtracker.
