Given that 80% of the American population own a smartphone while far fewer own a personal computer, designing for mobile devices should be your priority. When creating a new site or redesigning an old one, mobile-first web design is a method that prioritizes mobile design. Rather than taking a website made for desktops and retrofitting it, mobile-first designers go the opposite route.
Here are four reasons why you should take a mobile-first approach.
1. Your Users Will Appreciate It
One of the problems that web designers face right now is that mobile devices are taking over the browsing scene. Recently, mobile browsing definitively surpassed desktop browsing for the first time in history and it’s not slowing down. In the next few years, we’ll see most of the business that’s been traditionally done on computers move to mobile devices and apps.
Getting users’ attention online is a gargantuan task. When you finally connect with them, you want them to have the ideal experience. If they go to your site and have to stretch, scale, and rotate their screen to see your site, it’s poorly designed.
In all likelihood, they’ll end up moving to another site without ever looking back at yours.
If you’re providing a service that requires them to use a website, you need to make sure you design mobile first. If customers get a headache just thinking about paying their bills on your site, they could move to another service. All that work to win them over will be flushed down the drain.
With mobile design, you give your customers the best user experience by getting rid of the clutter. By fitting your site onto their phones, you leave unnecessary elements behind to focus on what matters the most.
By making sure it loads quickly and easily on their phones, you’ll keep them coming back again and again.
2. Available When Your Users Are
With the average smartphone user spending nearly four hours a day on their phone, very little of that time is productive time. Most people spend their productivity hours on a computer or a laptop. People use their phones to relax, browse for products, and order services.
Given that a mobile audience is more likely to be looking for products and services, you should design for a mobile audience.
People use their mobile devices from the minute they wake up until right before they go to bed. Many people even scroll through their phone while they’re lying in bed. You can take advantage of this addiction by building a site that prioritizes mobile devices.
Your visitors are going to come to your site in their spare time, during the hours they have free. They won’t want to be sitting in front of a computer or a laptop when they’ve been doing that all day for work. They’ll be visiting you during their recreational time. which is their time spent on mobile devices.
By designing your site with a mobile-first approach, you show that you understand this concept and want to be there when they need you.
3. Be Future-Proof
If you haven’t noticed, devices are steadily getting smaller, faster, and more productive. When you design a site that’s optimized to load, display, and be interacted with on mobile devices, you’re designing for the future.
Most people want their experiences on the web to be better integrated into their everyday life. With a mobile design, you can be ready for the next piece of technology that arrives. Mobile design limits interaction to a few key areas, leaving the most room for content.
If you haven’t developed a mobile-first approach yet, you’re going to be left behind. When you have a minimal and optimized mobile design, you can ensure that you’re creating a site that is brand agnostic. Whether someone loads your site on a Samsung, Google, Apple device, or any other brand, you can be sure your site will load.
These brands all use browsers that adhere to the latest internet standards. They’ll use the latest browser technology to display your site. If your site’s design isn’t up to the task, you could end up losing out to brands who know how to follow trends.
4. Mobile is Global
The fact is that not everyone around the world has access to a computer or a laptop. In many areas of the world, the smartphone or mobile device comprises nearly three-quarters of all internet usage. If you want to break into new markets, you need to take this seriously.
One of the ways that the internet has become accessible to more people is through mobile devices. People whose family never owned a television can now watch videos on mobile devices. People who might have been left out of the tech revolution in previous eras are now part of the revolution.
More searches across the globe are originating from mobile devices than on desktops and laptops. If you want to connect with India, Korea, or Northern Africa, smartphones are the way to go. They’re revolutionizing communication, productivity, and commerce.
While you might be running a small operation now, designing a mobile-first site will allow you to grow into markets where there’s the most energy.
Mobile-First Web Design Positions You For Younger Users
As more young people connect to the internet, the first way that they access the web is through mobile devices. Mobile-first web design ensures that they’re able to access from their own personal devices rather than a laptop or desktop belonging to the family. That ensures that you’ll build a personal relationship with your customers and clients from their early days on the internet.
To ensure that the content on your website is attracting the right audience, follow our latest guide to success.
