Today’s healthcare consumer expects convenient options for accessing health information, and to do so by a mobile device is increasingly in demand. For many consumers, mobile devices have replaced a home computer and patients in this circumstance rely on a mobile device to take care of healthcare matters and find a doctor. Mobile website design is vital for your overall digital marketing strategy.
Mobile marketing statistics confirm what tech experts have known for some time now – websites must be mobile-friendly to support consumer engagement, including in the healthcare space.
Mobile websites get more traffic:
- The source of 70% of web traffic is mobile phones as 80% of internet users access the web by this method
- Mobile phone data usage is expected to grow by 46%
- 80% of websites with top rankings work well on mobile
Mobile-friendliness is critical for winning new business:
- 70% of the searches made on mobile phones pair with strong intent to take action
- 83% of users expect an excellent user experience on websites no matter what device they access it from as 71% expect the mobile site to load just as fast (or faster) than the desktop version
- 61% of users decline to come back to a site that is not mobile friendly
- 40% will jump to a competitor’s site when they have a poor experience
- 57% of users do not feel confident about a business with a poorly designed website
What Makes a Website Design Mobile-Friendly?
First and foremost, a mobile website design is responsive. Mobile website responsive design simply means that the website adapts in appearance and functionality for the mobile device screen.
Prior to the push for “mobile-first” design, mobile browsers made the website user experience clunky and difficult. You had to zoom in, hunt for the scroll tool, zero in on your selection, and try to push the button exactly to move to the next page. With a website that automatically adapts to mobile devices, you no longer have to try to make a desktop design work on a much smaller mobile screen.
Additionally, mobile website design that is user-friendly offers:
- Text appropriately sized for readability
- Intuitive navigation that makes the mobile experience equal to the desktop experience
- Buttons and page elements compatible with mobile touchscreen technology (does not make it hard to select items or use interactive features)
- Meets speed standards (users with high-speed internet will not be waiting for the page to load)
- Mobile-friendly websites make sure that your site is optimized for the device that visitors are using.
Bottom line, mobile-friendly design means that the user should be able to perform any task and enjoy any benefit on a mobile website design as they would using a desktop device such as a laptop or desktop PC.
Summary: The Need for Mobile-Friendly Medical Website Design
Mobile-friendly website design is not just a best practice anymore; it is now the standard for mobile web design. Mobile technology is all about the promise of convenience, so consumers expect they can do just about anything with ease on their mobile devices, and web design is a large piece of this puzzle.
Having a mobile web design that meets and exceeds consumer expectations helps you build credibility with prospective patients as you work to win new patients online. And with mobile-friendliness being a top consideration in search engine optimization (SEO), applying user-friendly principles also helps maximize the digital marketing reach of your medical website.
With the steady upward trend of healthcare consumers using mobile devices to search for providers and health solutions on mobile devices, a mobile-friendly website is instrumental in growing your practice. Websites that are mobile-friendly help increase lead conversions, as you make it easier for patients to initiate care with your practice through easy access to appointment request forms.
Try Our Free Website Diagnostic Tool to See if Your Website is Mobile-Friendly
Is the mobile version of your healthcare website design “mobile friendly”? What needs to happen for it to be more user-friendly on mobile devices?
We have a free, no-obligation medical website assessment tool that will tell you where your website stands with mobile usability to help you identify opportunities. Additionally, our expert mobile website designers can help you correct issues that keep your website from being fully operational on mobile devices. Try it now for free.
