When creating a website or a product of any kind you need to put a lot of thought into how your customers are actually going to use whatever you produce. Every year many businesses and web sites fail because they were created based on outdated concepts, and with technology moving as quickly as it is it is easier than ever to fall behind. One strategy that is now outdated but still persists is designing websites for traditional web browsers alone while mobile Internet use is skyrocketing.
In the days when Internet was first invented there were only a handful of computers in hard to reach locations that could connect to one another. Computers hooked up to the web went from universities and government sites to businesses, then into homes as personal computers and anywhere with a modem thanks to laptops. Now we are witnessing a mobile computing revolution thanks to smart devices like tablets and smartphones that offer instant access to the Internet from just about any location.
If you want your site to be as successful as possible in this type of environment you need to make sure that it is mobile friendly. Whether you’re convinced already or still on the fence lets look at some specific reasons why a mobile friendly site is so important.
Making Sure Your Site Works
We should start by clarifying what a mobile friendly site is. If you have ever visited a familiar site on your phone or tablet and noticed that it looked different than it would on your desktop or laptop then you’re probably visiting a site that has been optimized for mobile use. In the past websites were all designed to fit on screens that had the size and dimensions of a small television but smart devices are changing that. Even larger tablets that are almost as big as some laptops screens have vertical screens, which is important for web design.
When a site that isn’t optimized for mobile use is accessed via a smart device all sorts of problems can occur. The most basic issue is the size, if your content is designed for a full-sized computer monitor then it may end up too small on a smartphone. Between changes in dimensions and the way the site is viewed many sites become difficult or nearly impossible to use on mobile devices.
You want your site to work on as many devices as possible, and making sure it’s mobile friendly is the way to achieve this goal.
Meeting Expectations
Next time you are out and about take a look at the people around you. You’ll see people staring at their phones on the bus, in lobbies and even over the dinner table. You can bet they are looking at something online and if you want them to look at your site then you should make sure it will work well on their devices.
If you would prefer statistics over anecdotes then consider that recent findings show how across the globe mobile web users have surpassed desktop users. And that study just tracked single platform users, most of your target audience probably uses traditional computers and smart devices to access the web. These users expect a website to work on all of their devices and that’s what you should be giving them.
Even if you aren’t interested in these trends understand that your competitors are. Just about every major corporation has optimized their websites for mobile device. This has created an expectation among users, they are so used to sites that play well with their phones and tablets that if they see yours doesn’t, they are likely to get frustrated and move along. Don’t let this happen to you.
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The Sooner The Better
It’s one thing to hear these facts if you’re looking to create a new site and something completely different if you already have a webpage. Upgrading an existing site so that it works well on mobile devices takes more work than simply making sure your new site does but that doesn’t mean that you should put off this necessary change.
It’s common for people to put off changes, thinking that they will be better prepared for them in the future. You might imagine that in the future you’ll have more money to spend on a fancier website or that you’ll only really need to upgrade your site when you have enough traffic. But this way of thinking is a trap, procrastinating in this area now will just cause more problems down the line and every day your site doesn’t work on mobile devices could mean losses in terms of traffic and profits.
If you already have a site it’s not too late to bring it into the mobile age but remember that the longer you wait the more you could miss out on.
Doing What Needs To Be Done
Now that you understand how important it is to make sure your site is mobile friendly it’s time to put what you’ve learned into action. If you already have a website this means upgrading your site so that it becomes mobile friendly or making sure that your new site is built for the web from the beginning.
If you’re looking to hire a web designer make sure they understand these facts. At IG Webs we have emphasized responsive design as a solution to this issue for years, and the facts have proven the soundness of this strategy. Anyone in the market for a website that works on any device should consider our services.
Have you ever visited a website from the 90s that looked fine at the time but seems ugly and hard to use now? Web design is constantly evolving and people are already looking at sites that don’t work on mobile devices as relics of the past. Don’t get left behind, make sure your site is built for the modern web user and their preferred devices.
