It’s a wide, wide web out there, and there are lots of tools and resources you can use to reach your potential new clients, but are you making your site available to them all? If you’re not considering multiple browsers while designing your site, then that’s a definite no.
It’s easy to get caught up in Chrome – which is the most popular browser out there, beating the others by a whooping 44%. But you can’t ignore the well-known Safari or the notorious Internet Explorer, not to mention the countless other browsers available to the users of the world wide web, i.e. everyone. So how do you design with multiple browsers in mind? Keep these basic practices in mind and you’ll be off to a good start.
Don’t Overthink It
You’re trying to offer information about your dealership at the end of the day. So don’t overcomplicate things. Fancy features and those complex bells and whistles are what cause most browser capability issues. They’re built with advanced JavaScript or CSS methods, and this is where things start to go wrong. Code with the assumption that your user doesn’t have Flash or JavaScript installed, even if you do end up working with a complex feature. This way your bare HTML can still give your users what they came for: info about your dealership.
Make Things Accessible
If your navigation bar uses Flash, and a visitor doesn’t have Flash download, that’s a problem. Even if you want to get fancy with some of your photos, videos, or other interactive features, anything that’s essential to the basic function of your site should be available to everyone. You might think your animated navigation bar is pretty cool, but you’ll just frustrate your visitors if they can’t get navigate away from a page because of it.
Test, Test, and Test Again
What’s the number one rule when you’re adding a new page or launching a new site? Test everything. And then test it again, just to be sure. Want to know if a browser will support one of your page-building methods? You can test certain features against popular browsers here.
You should test to be sure your pages are compatible with the most popular browsers: Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. Chances are your visitors will be using one of these, though it’s also common for iPhone users to stick with Safari. A great way to stay on top of various browsers, including those supported on mobile, is to adopt a responsive website platform, which is something we’ve talked about before.
There’s nothing worse than missing out on a potential lead because your site doesn’t load on their browser! Keep all of your dealership’s excellent services and inventory available to everyone with a site that gets the job done without overcomplicating things.
