Why is a mobile-friendly website important?

In 2016, worldwide, more users accessed the Internet through a mobile device, such as a phone or tablet, than they did with a desktop or notebook computer. This is the first time in history this has happened, and there are no signs that this trend will stop anytime soon. In the US, mobile Internet usage hasn’t surpassed desktop Internet usage just yet, but desktop/notebook usage is trending downward and mobile usage is trending upward, and they are getting close to meeting at 50/50 soon. (Source: StatCounter)

How could this impact my website?

Without a mobile-friendly web site, you can miss out on millions of potential visits to your site. With plenty of mobile-friendly sites out there already, most mobile users have no patience to try to wade through a complex site designed only for a desktop, or even worse, one that has features that don’t even function on a mobile device.

Not only will most mobile users leave your site immediately, but they now might not even find it in the first place. In 2016, Google announced that they have added mobile-friendliness as a criterion for how high your site will rank in search results on mobile devices. From Google: “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. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”

What about e-commerce?

If you have an e-commerce site, it is more important than ever to optimize the shopping and checkout process for mobile devices. The appearance of a barely functioning shopping cart can decrease the consumer’s confidence in your system and can lead them to question if their payment information is safe or if the order will even be submitted correctly. Or, they may not be able to find anything to put in their cart in the first place if the shop is not designed with mobile browsing ease in mind. This can result in a large number of lost sales. In 2010, you would not have been missing out on too many online sales since only 4% of e-commerce sales were on mobile, but by the end of 2016, this figure had gone all the way up to 21%, steadily increasing each year in between. (Source: comScore)

If you want to keep up with today’s digital marketplace and remain relevant to the majority of Internet users in the coming years, it is critical to upgrade your web site to have a well-designed and smoothly functioning mobile version. The experts at SandStorm IT can help optimize your website for mobile browsing. SandStorm IT can be reached at 901-475-0275.