If you’ve got a modern, attractive, and professional website for your business, you might think that you’re all set. For many of us, the first thing we picture when we think of a website is the big-screen desktop version. This is, after all, what many of us grew up with and are comfortable using. And bigger is better, right?
Well, times are changing, and so must we. The statistics and trends of the day indicate that the mobile version of your site should come first when you think about maximizing your online presence.
Yes, you read that right. Most website owners and administrators should not just consider mobile website development but prioritize it.
Why?
Glad you asked. In this article, we’ll explain what the fuss is about mobile web development. Along the way, we’ll also help point you in the right direction to take full advantage of your mobile website.
Mobile accounts for the majority of internet traffic
Well, according to statistics, 54.8% of all internet traffic comes from mobile devices. Yes, you read that right. Most of the internet traffic today is generated by mobile users. That means the majority of people visiting and using your website are likely on their mobile devices.
That runs counterintuitive to how most individuals, entrepreneurs, and businesses view their online presence.
Until recently, many businesses created a token mobile site with minimal features and content. The hope was that visitors could use it to contact you (more on that later), or it would entice them to visit your leading (desktop) site.
However, the numbers clearly show that you should put as much effort into your mobile site as your desktop one. At the very least, this means making sure your website is mobile responsive. You might also have to tweak your messaging, media, and performance to be optimal for mobile devices.
Of course, it may be the case that your website needs capabilities that are not suited for mobile. Or that your research shows the majority of your audience is still visiting your site from a desktop. Still, you can expect the share of mobile traffic to keep growing, and it’s best to proactively prepare for a mobile future.
Mobile design is now a search engine ranking signal
Google has caught on to this fact. The search engine giant now uses mobile-first indexing when ranking websites for its search engine. This involves signals like testing your website for mobile-friendly design and performance.
So, not only will having a great mobile site help you provide excellent user experiences to the majority of visitors, but it will also help you generate more organic traffic.
When optimizing your mobile site’s performance, you must pay attention to core web vitals (CWVs). CWVs are a Google initiative to try and quantify how website performance affects the user experience.
It consists of three metrics:
- Cumulative Layout Shift: This measures how many elements move around on the page as it loads. In other words, it determines how stable/unstable a page loads. It’s preferable that elements load top-down or, at the very least, stay where they are initially positioned.
- First Input Delay: This measures how long it takes from the moment a page loads to when it becomes interactive. For example, some code or content loading in the background may prevent clicking a button from immediately carrying out the action it is programmed to do.
- Largest Contentful Paint: The LCP refers to the largest element that renders in the visible area of the page on whatever screen it’s viewed. The faster this element loads, the quicker the user gets information and the faster the overall loading process feels.
You can test these factors directly with tools like PageSpeed Insights.
Mobile e-commerce is booming
Another important factor to consider is how e-commerce has exploded on mobile. M-commerce, as it’s called, accounted for $3.56 billion in revenue. That’s almost a threefold increase from $1.36 billion in 2017.
In 2021, 72.9 percent of all retail e-commerce is expected to be generated via m-commerce, up from 58.9 percent in 2017.
Previously, m-commerce was held back somewhat for two reasons:
- People didn’t put as much trust in buying on mobile as they did buying on their computers. This is only natural as people were first more hesitant to buy online than in a store.
- It was more technically challenging to create mobile-friendly e-commerce experiences with high-conversion user journeys.
However, global audiences are now getting more and more confident transacting from their mobile devices. Mobile websites are also getting better and better – not to mention mobile e-commerce smartphone applications.
Streamline all your marketing channels
Another advantage of targeting mobile users is that you can more seamlessly integrate with multiple marketing and communication channels. This is highly advantageous, both for customer relations management, support, and sales.
For example, you can allow users to instantly call you at the push of a button from the mobile website or Google My Business listing. If a user was on a desktop, they would have to type the number on their phone first to dial you.
This is particularly important in e-commerce sales, where you don’t want to give a potential customer any friction or time to second-guess themselves.
Similarly, you can link to your various channels, apps, or website pages, from WhatsApp, SMS, email, etc. This allows you to prompt your visitors or customers to instantly take the action you want them to.
Conclusion
So, if we want to stay ahead as entrepreneurs or business owners, we need to alter our perceptions. At the very least, we should view mobile as equally crucial for our online presence, if not more.
A professional and forward-looking website development agency will always consider your requirements and industry trends when deciding how to approach developing your website. Contact us today to ensure that you can capitalize on the mobile revolution.
