Most likely there is an increase in the percentage of visitors who access your site from a mobile device – whether to research products they may buy later (on their PC or in the store), or to make a purchase on the spot. Navigation is one of the most important aspects of your mobile site, and navigation links – along with the search box – should get prominent placement on your homepage. Navigation on your regular ecommerce site won’t just transfer over to the mobile platform; you need to keep mobile navigation extremely simple and easy to follow so your visitors remain engaged. The more streamlined your navigation, the faster visitors can find what they’re looking for, which can mean more sales (and less abandonment) for you.
Below are a couple tips to get you started. You can find the complete set of mobile navigation tips and more in the Big Book of Navigation Tips. Next week will be our final post on the topic as we wind down this series – but don’t worry, the “Big Book” will continue to be available on our site.
1. Add a search box to the bottom of the page — When visitors scroll to the bottom of the page and cannot find what they’re looking for on the page. You can add a search box and some navigation links to the bottom of the page. This gives visitors an option to easily continue exploring on your site without having to scroll up to the top.
2. Make links large enough to use on touch screen devices — Most mobile devices have touch screens, so make sure your links are big enough for your visitors to click on without accidentally clicking on a different link. Visitors will be frustrated by this if they have to try several times to reach the page they want. If you don’t correct this, they will give up and abandon the site completely.
