A 2018 survey conducted by Oracle Financial Services found that 81% of customers engage with their bank digitally. While online banking is nothing new, the devices that customers use and their behavior using them change rapidly as technology evolves. In 2018, 58% of U.S. customers visited websites using their mobile devices versus only 42% visiting sites on a computer.
We’ve discussed the importance of responsive bank website design before. Today we’re going to talk about the distinction between designing your bank website to be mobile-friendly, mobile-optimized, and responsive. They may sound the same, but they are very different.
Mobile-Friendly Design: Desktop First
In April 2015, Google announced that it would start using the mobile-friendliness of a website as a criterion in search engine rankings. With a mobile-friendly approach, the designer creates the desktop version of a website with mobile viewing as an afterthought.
Both desktop and mobile visitors benefit from the design features of a mobile-friendly site. For instance, small image files allow for faster load times. Large type sizes — usually 14 or 16 point type — are easier to read and more legible on all screen sizes. Large buttons and hyperlinked contact information that allows customers to click to call, email, or find directions to your business help customers access information.
Designing your bank website to be mobile-friendly is, at minimum, best practice. However, because it’s basically a desktop design that the customer can easily view on a mobile device, it has its limits. You can check if your bank website design is mobile-friendly using Google’s test tool.
Mobile-Optimized Design: Mobile First
Mobile-optimized bank websites are designed specifically for mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. Websites designed for mobile-optimization will reformat according to the type of device on which the user is viewing it.
Website designers take into account the behavior of mobile users versus the actions of desktop users. For instance, mobile users often visit a site to find a quick answer or to conduct a simple transaction. Thus, web designers strive for simplicity and legibility on mobile-optimized sites. Users can easily navigate a single-column layout, large buttons and borders, and little to no need for typing.
Sometimes, a bank will maintain its mobile-optimized website separate from its main website designed for desktop viewing. When this occurs, usually a subdomain hosts the mobile site. While the main site’s web address may be mybanksite.com, the mobile-optimized site address would be m.mybanksite.com. If you decide to go this route, include a link on your mobile site to the main website so customers have the option to view the desktop version.
Responsive Design: All-in-One Design
Although a mobile-optimized website automatically resizes based on the type of device the user is viewing it on, that doesn’t mean it’s responsive. Responsive websites resize based on screen size, regardless of device type.
You can test if your bank website is responsive by viewing it in a desktop browser. If you resize the browser window and the content reformats to fit, your site is responsive. If the content gets cut off and you have to scroll horizontally to view all the content, then your bank website may only be mobile-friendly or mobile-optimized.
With a responsive bank website, you only have to maintain one site. Also, with a single site, your customer only needs to know one URL instead of two.
Keep in mind that just because your website is responsive, it doesn’t mean it’s optimized for mobile. When designing your bank website, you’ll want to incorporate mobile-friendly and optimized features to create an optimal user experience.
Final Words
When was the last time you looked at your bank website on your phone or tablet? Did it load quickly, or did you become impatient? Did all your content fit on the screen, or did you have to scroll to continue reading or view an image? Were the hyperlinks so close together or buttons so small that you had trouble clicking them?
According to Google, 80% of customers are likely to do business with a company when its mobile site offers solutions to their needs. Having a mobile-friendly or mobile-optimized bank website is good but not enough. Instead, incorporate these design features into a responsive site that will provide an ideal customer experience and will be easy for you to maintain. Our design team at BankSITE® Services is here to help.
