If you aren’t already convinced of how imperative it is that you have a mobile-friendly website, I can guarantee you will have no doubt about it by the end of this article.
Just What is a Mobile-Friendly Website?
A mobile-friendly website is one that correctly displays on mobile & hand-held devices such as your iPhone, Android or Blackberry as well as your iPads & tablets. Also known as responsive web design, these website designs will “respond” to ANY device or display, be it your cell phone or your 46″ LCD screen. This makes for a streamlined experience when viewing the website.
Who Needs Mobile Visitors Anyway?
You might say to yourself, “Most of my customers aren’t looking at my site from mobile phones.” Recent studies have shown that more than half of digital traffic online now comes from mobile devices and through mobile apps.
This is going to give & take depending on your industry, but on average, our clients see anywhere from 25-60% of their traffic coming from mobile. Even at it’s lowest, is 25% a figure that you’re comfortable neglecting?
Combine this with the fact that neglecting to have a website that is up to web standards (see: mobile-friendly) will also negatively impact your overall success in search engines, I would say now is the time to start getting serious about this once “optional” web design move.
Benefits of a Mobile Friendly Website
- Streamlined experience across devices
- Positive ranking signal
- Improve mobile conversion rate
- Improved user experience
- Faster download speed
- More flexible and cost-effective than app development
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Google Using Mobile-Friendly Sites as a Ranking Factor
On February 26, 2015, Google released an official statement in regards to how it will be handling mobile-friendly search results.
While it’s already widely speculated that Google has been valuing websites that cater to both desktop and mobile visitors, they’ve now publicly announced that it will have a powerful effect as a ranking factor.
Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results.
There’s plenty of things that Google factors into their ranking algorithm that leaves us scratching our heads and wondering, “Why?”. This is not one of them.
As of June 2016, to coincide with Google’s announcement of their new mobile testing tool, it’s now more important than ever to also pay attention to the mobile speed score of your website. In addition to simply looking at design elements, Google will now also be looking at the performance of your mobile page as a ranking factor.
You’re Throwing Money Away
I’m sure you’ve stumbled upon a website that isn’t mobile-friendly before. You’re on the go, checking out a new restaurant’s menu before stopping in. You have to pinch & zoom on each section of the website to read anything or even navigate the website. God forbid your fingers are any larger than a small child’s or you’ll end up tapping on the wrong link.
Believe it not, many smartphone users won’t even put in the effort to browse a website that isn’t formatted for mobile. And why should they? Odds are they can hop right back to the search results and go to one of your competitors who does have a site that’s easy to navigate.
Mobile Shopping is Taking Over
The mobile-friendliness issue becomes even more imperative when we step into the online shopping arena. Online shoppers have quickly started to favor using their mobile devices when browsing and buying products online.
IBM reported that that mobile traffic exceeded PC internet traffic for the first time: 52.1 percent to 47.9 percent. [Black Friday, 2014]
You want to make it as easy as possible for people to spend money and complete the sale. Their mobile shopping experience is of utmost importance here. Online shops already have enough issues with conversion rates for their desktop visitors. Show them their conversion rates for mobile visitors on their non-mobile-friendly website and they’ll keel over.
Take Action!
So, please, Internet. Don’t throw away your mobile customers and let your search traffic dwindle. Make sure your websites are ready with a mobile-friendly design. We can help.
