Say you are looking for a tradesperson. You open a site on your phone and the page loads, but the text is tiny. You have to pinch and zoom to find the number. You tap the number and nothing happens. You end up typing it by hand, and meanwhile you start thinking of a competitor that would be easier.
Even if the site opens fast, this picture loses customers. In the previous article I covered how quickly a site opens. In this one I look at what happens after it opens, whether it behaves like a mobile friendly website: can a customer find what they need on your site on their phone and take action easily?
Why is ease of use on a phone so important?
A person visiting from a phone is often in a hurry. They want to book, find an address, ask for a price or call, with one thumb, a small screen and scattered attention. Every small obstacle pushes them a little further away. Most of these are design decisions and can be fixed.
What you can check from your own phone
Open your site on your phone and try this list one item at a time. For each one, you can answer yes or no.
- Is your phone number at the top of the page or somewhere easy to see?
- When you tap the number, does the call screen open?
- Can you read the text comfortably without zooming?
- Can you tap the buttons with your fingertip without hitting the wrong one?
- Does the page slide sideways, so that you have to scroll horizontally?
- When you tap the address, does a map open?
- Is there a WhatsApp or message button, and does it work?
- Is the form short, or does it ask ten questions?
If you answer no three or more times, your site has a real problem losing customers who come from phones.
A tappable phone number
This is the simplest and most often missed point. The number may be written on the page but sit there as plain text. If nothing happens when a visitor taps it, they have to copy it and paste it into the call screen. Most people will not.
What you should ask for is simple: tapping the number starts the call directly. A "Call" button that stays reachable even as the page scrolls is very convenient for customers. For businesses that win work by phone, such as dental clinics, plumbers, lawyers or hotels, this one change alone can make a difference.
Readable text
If the text is too small, the line spacing is cramped or the colors are close to each other, reading is tiring. Light gray text can look elegant on a white background, but it cannot be read in the sun, on the street.
Ask yourself: can I read this with the phone held at arm's length? If not, the text should be larger. Short paragraphs and clear headings help too.
Buttons that fit a finger
A mouse pointer is a thin point, a finger is wide. If buttons are small or too close together, the customer taps the wrong one, gets annoyed and leaves.
A good button is large enough for a finger to press comfortably and sits far enough from the button next to it. The same goes for menu links: a cramped menu with tiny text cannot be used on a phone.
A short form
An appointment or quote form is the hardest thing to fill in on a phone. The keyboard covers half the screen and typing is slow.
| Needed | Possibly unnecessary |
|---|---|
| Full name | Date of birth |
| Phone | Company title |
| Short message | Three separate address lines |
For most businesses, a name, a phone number and a short note are enough. The shorter the form, the more people complete it. It is also a small but important convenience when tapping the phone field opens the number keyboard.
Map and directions
For businesses that serve people in person, customers want to find you. If they have to read the address and type it into a map by hand, many will give up. It helps a lot when tapping the address opens a map with a "Get directions" option. Showing opening hours right next to the address is useful too. The map details on your site should match your Google business listing.
WhatsApp and quick contact
Many people prefer writing to talking on the phone. For those who want to ask a price or send a photo especially, a WhatsApp button is a very easy route. Tapping it should open a chat with you directly, not take the visitor to an empty, confusing screen. But if you add this button, you must be able to answer messages. An unanswered chat leaves a worse impression than a closed door.
Full-screen pop-ups and sideways sliding
Two more annoyances. Campaign pop-ups can cover the whole screen with a tiny close mark; if the customer cannot close it, they close the site. And if the page slides sideways when you swipe, it was not built to fit phones.
What should you ask a specialist?
When you talk to the person who builds or updates your site, ask clearly for the following.
- A design planned for phones first, then for computers
- A phone number and address that can be tapped
- A call or WhatsApp button that stays visible while scrolling
- A short form that is easy to fill in on a phone
- Testing on several real phones before handover
"It also looks good on a phone" is not enough. Accept the site only after trying it together on a real phone.
Frequently asked questions
My site looks fine on a phone. Can there still be a problem?
Yes. Looking good and being easy to use are not the same thing. The page may sit neatly while the number cannot be tapped, the buttons are small or the form is long.
Is fixing these things a big job?
Most are small fixes, but the scope depends on the site. If the foundation is very old, rebuilding may make more sense than patching.
How do I know where customers give up on a phone?
If a tool such as Google Analytics is set up, you can see which pages people leave from. But the fastest way is to hand your site to a friend and watch them try a task without explaining it, for example "try to book an appointment".
Is a WhatsApp button a must?
It is not a must, but it helps a lot if your customers like messaging. I recommend adding it as long as you can reply.
A site where customers can call, read and book easily on their phone turns most of your visitors into real work. If you want to build such a site from scratch, take a look at my website design page.