Have you ever visited a website on your smartphone that wasn't mobile first? If you had pinch and zoom to read content, then you have. Many have raved about Mobile First methodology when it comes to web design and development, but a lot of us don't even know what it means!
We explain Mobile First as a method of development that focuses on building for mobile devices and then progressively enhancing to desktop. The benefits of Mobile First are massive but I would like to focus on three reasons why your company needs a Mobile First website.
1. Building for the NOW.
We’ve heard much talk about how building responsive or mobile first is building for the future. But please! Don’t let that keep you from updating your website simply because you think it can wait.
At times we might assume; “The future is still the future.”.. NO! The future is here and the future is NOW. If you are not prioritizing and taking advantage of a Mobile First strategy you’re business is losing. Just take a look at these statistics from Google!
- [50% of all local searches (e.g., Cedar Falls bank) are performed on mobile devices (2012, Google)] (http://googlemobileads.blogspot.com/2012/09/mobile-friendly-sites-turn-visitors.html)
- [67% of mobile users say that when they visit a mobile-friendly site, they’re more likely to buy a site’s product or service. (2012, Google)] (http://googlemobileads.blogspot.com/2012/09/mobile-friendly-sites-turn-visitors.html)
- [50% of people said that even if they like a business, they will use them less often if the website isn’t mobile-friendly. (2012, Google)] (http://googlemobileads.blogspot.com/2012/09/mobile-friendly-sites-turn-visitors.html)
- [52% of users said that a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company. (2012, Google)] (http://googlemobileads.blogspot.com/2012/09/mobile-friendly-sites-turn-visitors.html)
- 62% of companies that designed a website specifically for mobile had increased sales. (2012, Econsultancy)
These are shocking statistics that can’t be ignored.
The number of smart phones are increasing exponentially. Everyday 371,124 children are born across the World and everyday 377,900 iPhones are sold across the World.Those are just iPhones! Everyday 700,000 Android devices are activated.
Combining Apple products such as; iPhone, iPad and iPod Touches along with Android devices adds to the sum of 1.27M mobile devices sold or activated per day compared to 371,124 children born. Crazy right?.. Puts it into perspective now, doesn’t it?
2. Selective Content Delivery
Two points to cover. Design Real-Estate and Content Strategy.
From a designer’s perspective, because we are constricted to design within a device's viewport, which is substantially smaller than a desktop screen. We are forced to cut from anything that holds no value in our design and focus on the user’s needs, enhancing a user’s mobile experience.
Businesses benefit from Selective Content Delivery because it provides them the ability to have multiple layouts on mobile, tablet, and desktop and select which content is of most importance to the user; content strategy.
A perfect example is Whataburger. (Who doesn’t love whataburger, am I right? ;) ) If you view their site on desktop you’ll notice - as part of their social recognition marketing strategy - that it’s full of user generated content commenting on how AUH-suuum whataburger is. But take a look at their mobile site… very different. It excludes all the clutter and focuses on what’s important, their food and location.
3. Mobile Usability.
We’ve all experienced in one form or the other the excruciating torments of slow load times on mobile. I hate it. It’s the worst. Especially when I really need to find or do something online and mobile is my only option.
Who’s with me!? The reason I mention this is because it’s been proven that when a website exceeds the load time of 3 to 5 seconds, the user will be aggravated and drop out.
Mobile First allows us to optimize images and elements specifically for mobile, it ensures ample load times and usability. Instead of scaling visual elements that are only optimized for desktop.
In summary, the time to update your site is now. Your business is suffering and losing prospective buyers everyday that you don't have a mobile first site. Mobile First gives you different layouts for different devices and your content is directed towards increasing sales.
Going mobile optimizes your images and increases load times for usability. What’s not to love about Mobile First. The time is now! Email us today to help you get started.
In summary, the time to update your site is now. Your business is suffering and losing prospective buyers everyday that you don't have a mobile first site.
Even Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, said, “If you don’t have a mobile strategy, you don’t have a future strategy.” Mobile First is the way to go, it gives you different layouts for multiple devices and your content is directed towards.