How Important is Mobile Web Design?

In my last post I mentioned that designing a site as “Mobile-First” was a key boost for climbing up the Google Rankings to that illusive Front Page of search results.

This is where the site’s design and user experience is built explicitly for a mobile device, before serving up a secondary version for those accessing on a desktop computer, where there is often more power (as well as less concern for expensive cell data) to process the additional instructions in the desktop web browser.

Without a doubt, the internet is an environment increasingly dominated by mobile devices (approx 50% of all internet access), and so any business with an online web presence should be asking if they are putting their investment in their website to the best possible use to reach the most potential customers.

With half of your perspective visitors operating on a mobile device of varying shapes and sizes, every website built today absolutely needs to be built with small, handeld devices in mind.

Retail habits, such as searching on a phone while running errands, demand that businesses with a retail location have a great looking mobile web presence that encourages visitors to your brick & mortar store. In fact, work is under way at Google as we speak to further develop their ranking algorithm to give preference to a site that is primarily “Mobile-First Indexed” – recognising that their multi-billion dollar business is increasingly dependent on mobile internet use.

It is clear that mobile internet use is dominating the way successful companies think about their online business & online presence. Small Businesses that jump on board with this approach gain a huge competative advantage in their market by mirroring these strategies in 4 main ways:

• Their site displays thoughtfully & strategically to encourage the desired action; drawing their eyes to elements of the page specifically designed to get a response.
• Their brand is elevated in comparison to competitors whose mobile-displays are clunky, hard to read, and ultimately become a barrier to spending with that business.
• Their Search Engine Rankings gain an edge due to satisfying Google’s increasingly mobile-friendly and mobile-first approach to deciding who gets the best positioning.
• Their phone becomes a powerful sales & marketing tool that can be accessed during any meeting or conversation to encourage current or future engagement with your business.

When consulting with an agency or freelancer to partner on a new or rebuilt website, wait to see if they bring up responsive design, or impress on you the importance of designing for mobile first. If you’re meeting in person, do they show you how examples of their work display on mobile devices as well as on a more traditional screen? If they do, does it look clean and function as you might expect? Again, how your site displays on mobiles should never be an afterthought, and any developer worth their salt will initiate the conversation.

Whether your selling services or products directly online, using the site to display work and generate leads, or even using a site to encourage foot traffic at a brick and mortar storefront, credibility is absolutely key. If your website doesnt display as expected on the user’s device of choice, what are the chances that they will part with hard earned cash and trust your business to deliver?

Personally I am far more likely to visit or spend money with a business while already out shopping if they have a clean, professional and responsive web presence, especially as a first-time or new customer.

In a few short seconds, that site must inspire confidence that they take their work (and website) seriously. The competition’s website is just a click away…

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