Why having a website with a responsive design that’s mobile friendly matters!
According to We Are Social’s new ‘Digital, Social and Mobile 2015 Report’, 27% of all website views come from mobile phones; while this is still far less than the 58% which come from desktop views, it is nonetheless still the second most popular way in which people access websites and therefore a crucially important aspect of a company’s digital strategy.
Furthermore, there is evidence that when people are accessing websites via their mobiles, this is more likely to lead to action; with 9 out of 10 mobile searches leading to action and more than 50 percent leading to sales according to SearchEngineLand. Mobile perform 4-5x better than online ads for key metrics such as brand favourability, awareness and purchase intent. (Source: Neilson Study, 2012). According to comScore, a leading internet technology company, 55 percent of all time spent on online shopping in June 2013 was on a mobile device. Out of the 55 percent mobile devices, 44 percent was from a smartphone while the remaining 11 percent was from a tablet device. The rest of the 45 percent shopping activity occurred on desktops and laptops.
Far too many businesses, however, are still failing to capitalise on the potential market of mobile phone web users; according to Fortune 500’s mobile friendly survey, 44% of websites are still not mobile friendly.
Mobile web users, for the most part, have different objectives to desktop users; they are more likely to be browsing the web while doing other things, and are more likely to make impulse purchases. From an inbound marketing perspective, therefore, an optimised mobile website is crucial if you want to appeal to these customers, who demonstrate clearly different browsing behaviour to desktop users. They have little time for unwieldy mobile sites which fail to make browsing on their mobile an easy and enjoyable experience.
Having a mobile friendly website is also important for brand engagement; many users who access your site initially on desktop will switch between devices when they check back. If your mobile website isn’t up to scratch users will be less likely to continue to engage with your brand.
Earlier this year, Google announced that for mobile searches it would factor “mobile friendliness” into it’s rankings; therefore for search engine optimisation it is important that you have a mobile friendly website.
Your mobile website should neither be the same as your desktop site, nor should it be a completely minimal, stripped down version of it. While your branding and content should remain consistent, the layout is likely to be substantially different.
If you’re not sure how mobile friendly your website is, check out our quick checklist here.
At Artonezero, we specialise in mobile friendly web development; and can help both with building both your website and mobile site, or just ensuring your mobile site is up to scratch. Give us a call on 020 301 103 90 or drop us an email to support@artonezero.com for a chat about what we can do for your business.
