The new iPhone 5 just hit the market, and a new Samsung Galaxy S III before that. And there will be more new and updated devices launched soon, and many more after that. Whenever new mobile devices hit the market, they offer consumers new features and enhancements that make them even easier to use for entertainment and business purposes, as well as for shopping on the go. For us e-commerce experts, this poses new challenges in making sure that our mobile sites can accommodate visitors on these new devices, and that customers can easily find products and information, even on the small screen. Here is some insight for how to make mobile sites more search- and user-friendly – you can read even more in our Big Book of Site Search Tips.
1. Show Succinct Content
Mobile screens don’t allow for lengthy product descriptions or the many site navigation links that you’d find on normal search results pages. To insure rapid load times and uncluttered pages, it is important to keep the content presented on search results concise.
7 For All Mankind gives users succinct but useful information such as Article Name, Picture, and Price. They keep search results brief while adding price discount information.
Short product descriptions can also be added. As there isn’t a lot of room for a lot more information, though, be sure to limit content to the essentials. Number of colors available, and style code can also be added.
2. Use Small Thumbnails
Keep the pictures small so as not to slow down page loads. In the example above, 7 For All Mankind uses small product thumbnail images in order to increase download speed.
3. Use The Bottom Of The Page
Another common search feature is including sort options, pagination, and related search. The best practices for mobile sites are to include these at the bottom of the search page results. We also recommend providing another search box at the bottom of this page to save visitors from scrolling back up to the top, as can be seen in the MotorCycle SuperStore example below.
We recommend doing this so that you will have as many product results as possible above the fold, which helps users find their products quickly. Users can also conveniently access all other search options they need from one area once they’ve reviewed all the initial search results, without scrolling up and down.
If you have any ideas about enhancing the mobile site search experience, please let us know.
