Mobile Web Development - Things To Know

By Author: Peter Wilson
Total Articles: 13
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Mobile phones are rapidly becoming the preferred choice in devices to connect to the internet. According to the Office for National Statistics in 2011,

# 45 per cent of Internet users used a phone to connect to the Internet
# 6 million people accessed the Internet over their mobile device for the first time in the last 12 months
# The use of wireless hotspots almost doubled in the last 12 months to 4.9 million users

Going by this data, it is clear that businesses with a website must consider extending their presence on handheld devices as well. Phone web browsing is common and a number of businesses are leveraging this internet platform to reach their market with customer-focused web design in Belfast.

What is a mobile web site?
Unlike regular website users, phone browsers use the internet on the go. Designing a website for these users requires an understanding of browsing habits. Mobile web designers in Northern Ireland study user behaviour as a first step. Since these users can be anywhere while using their handheld devices, the website must load quickly and be minimalistic with specific ...
... information and a call to action.

Mobile web design in Belfast is different from that of regular computer browsers. There are certain guidelines specific to phone web sites in terms of accessibility and design. One of the reasons is phones follow data plans that cannot download huge amounts of data as quickly as the regular computer. As a result, minimizing download time is critical.

In most cases, mobile web designers in Northern Ireland can modify the business’ existing website for compatibility with various devices by changing the layout and design.

Unique web design principles
Mobile web design follows the same principles as the regular website. Both use HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Here are some things to bear in mind, however, when it comes to displaying the necessary elements on a phone browser:

# Tags in the page header to tell the browser that the page is phone browser-ready
# For the website to detect the type of device using the website, a PHP script may be required to change the layout and make it compatible with the phone's screen.
# It is important to keep the design as functional as possible since the display will not be the same for all devices.
# For the layout, CSS is a good idea. Tables are best avoided
# Coding with XML or XHTML works best for small screen web design in Belfast with the character encoding set at UTF-8
# Include only vital information, making it easy and convenient for the user.
# Mobile web designers in Northern Ireland focus on making the layout finger-friendly for users. White space is important between page elements so that clicking on a call to action is easy.
# Download time is critical. Background images are best avoided as they may not display well on some device screens in low light. Smaller images can be collaged into one file, using CSS to place them on the page so that the number of http requests is minimized.
# Unlike on regular websites, forms are difficult to complete on smaller device screens. Lists and radio buttons make better alternatives. The data required from the user must be kept at a minimum and recalled when the user visits again.

Mobile web designers in Northern Ireland follow the credo of less is more for phone web sites.

WSI Digital Web has the best mobile web designers in Northern Ireland who specializes in mobile site development and mobile marketing. They also provide services like SEO, SEM, SMO, Video marketing and Web Design in Belfast