First off, what does “mobile-friendly” mean?
A mobile friendly website is essentially when your regular website shrinks down to be small enough to display on a mobile device. It looks like a tiny version of your website. Only responsive websites work on mobile devices. As the name implies, mobile-friendly content just means that content appears well not just on desktop computers but also on smaller mobile devices. That means that the text is easily readable, links and navigation are easily clickable, and it’s easy to consume the content in general.
Why is it important?
It’s estimated that by last year, 67.1% of the world’s population had mobile phones, 52.5% of which are smartphone users. If you compare this to the statistics from previous years, we can see a strong growing tendency towards mobile. It’s natural, as mobile devices are like small moveable computers with Internet connection and are always within your reach. Thus, a website optimised for mobile devices is a must-have for you.
So let’s see 8 solid reasons why a mobile-friendly website is an absolute must.
1.Improved user experience
User experience is everything these days. A positive experience is accessing an intuitive site that doesn’t require users to pinch and zoom to find something or build up frustration trying to navigate to a page the user knows they can get to in a single click on their PC.
Frustration will send visitors to mobile-optimised competitors and the chances of winning them back are slim with Google figures showing that 61% of users are unlikely to return to a site they found difficult to access. Mobile optimisation avoids the unnecessary loss of customers and deals with the scourge of all Internet marketing campaigns: user impatience. Consumers have been spoiled with convenience and speed for so long that, according to Kissmetrics, a single second delay in website loading time can see a 7% reduction in customer conversions. Google standards dictate that a webpage should load in two seconds. A responsive site can do that; a desktop site loading on a mobile device has no chance.
2.Mobile users buy more
Mobile is convenient. There’s little load time, no waiting around for devices to start up, and, as the name suggests, it’s mobile. Mobile-friendly sites can be accessed from pretty much anywhere which helps with impulse buys. People aren’t hanging on to the idea of purchasing when they get home on their PC – they want to do it now! Accessible websites enhance the customer experience. The better the experience, the more likely they are to purchase – and the stats back that up.
On average, 15% of desktop users make purchases at least once a week, whereas 35% of mobile users make purchases at least once a week. If they hit a website that is hard to navigate on mobile or doesn’t feel intuitive, they’ll take their business elsewhere – and with the power of mobile they’ll be making that purchase with your competitor in about 30 seconds.
3.A mobile-friendly design makes a website more available
Mobile users get to the web at whatever point they need, wherever they are. The fundamental reason they peruse the web from their mobile telephones, is that the moment requires it and a desktop PC or laptop is unavailable. A website that is not mobile-friendly can push the guests to relinquish and search for another, more helpful site to explore. Thus, websites are creating responsive designs, to be available at any minute and with any gadget (cell phones, tablets).
4.A mobile improved site engages Google ranking
According to MENA, around 96% of Internet users search on Google at whatever point they are searching for something. Thus, all websites buckle down on their SEO to show up in the first few results of a Google search. An urgent stride in enhancing a website is to create a responsive website composition in light of the fact that, all in all, Google identifies if a website is mobile friendly and favors it when displaying search results.
5.Keep up-to-date
Responsive website design ensures that webpages adapt to the device it is being viewed on to ensure a consistent structure and experience. This is important because without responsive design sites either look outdated or will load different adaptations which increase the design and maintenance costs.
More so, it massively improves search engine optimisation which will make a huge difference to the marketing budget. Almost 60% of Google searches are made on mobile phones, so Google doesn’t like websites that are not mobile-optimised and punishes those sites by pushing them down the search results.
Social media advertising also benefits from improved efficiency and efficacy from mobile optimisation. Take Facebook, for example. Over 90% of Facebook users access the service with a mobile device.
Social media is a time-filler; when people are commuting, waiting in line, avoiding the advert break – and the mobile phone is an easy and readily available distraction.
So when people are clicking your links on social media, they want to travel seamlessly to a site that doesn’t look like 2004 threw up on it.
6.Mobile-friendly websites have higher page views per visit and lower bounce rates
Great mobile user experience is a key. If your website displays beautifully on small devices without a need to zoom, loads fast and has a convenient navigation for mobile, then visitors will be encouraged to spend more time on it, moving from page to page, learning more about your business and having more of a chance to converse. Providing mobile-friendliness is one of the most effective ways to keep visitors on websites longer. People are more likely to stay on a website that is easy to use and are less likely to leave it, which means for you that a mobile-friendly website reduces your bounce rate.
7.Mobile-friendliness contributes to customer loyalty
If people are satisfied with the interaction with your website and get a positive impression about it, then they want keep coming back to it and use it again and again. And vice versa: after having a negative mobile experience 62% of users are less likely to purchase from a website in the future. So even users who made a purchase one time from a website that is not mobile friendly won’t be interested in maintaining long-term relationships with this brand. Making a website mobile-friendly is a way to gain loyal customers who bring more revenue than new ones.
8.Mobile devices are commonly used for researching products before a purchase
Before buying a certain product, users want to compare the assortment and prices offered on different online shops to make the most lucrative decision. Statistics show that 69% of users worldwide of age 18-39 research products from mobile devices. While it is more convenient to fill in web forms with personal and sensitive data on a computer, it is more convenient to scroll product pages on the go. That’s why studies show that people usually use mobile search to make up their minds about the product they want to buy and then switch to desktops to complete a purchase. However, if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, users can’t find it on the mobile search result page and you lose a chance for them to make a purchase decision in your favour.
Bottom line, your website should be mobile-friendly. So don’t delay optimising your website for mobile devices.
We at Ad-dictions would be happy to help you implement responsive design, optimize your website load speed and make a top-notch mobile-friendly website for you.
Credits:
https://www.studio98.com/5-reasons-website-mobile-friendly/
https://www.quicksprout.com/mobile-friendly-website-guide/
https://wishdesk.com/blog/why-website-should-be-mobile-friendly