The question rolling around in the heads of business owners as 2014 draws to a close: Is a mobile website important and is it worth the money? In a word, yes. Most definitely, yes. If your website isn’t designed for mobile devices, then consider remedying that a crucial resolution for your 2015.
If you need convincing, just look around. Watch people stroll by your storefront with their heads down, concentrating on their phones and tablets. Mobile devices are obviously a huge part of the present and mobile websites are a critical determinant of business’ futures. Need proof? The numbers don’t lie.
Mobile Website Statistics
Data from lukew.com shows that more mobile devices are sold and activated every day than children are born.
In a day:
- 371, 124 Babies born
- 378, 000 iPhones sold
- 562, 000 iOS devices sold
- 700, 000 Android devices activated
- 200,000 Nokia smartphones activated
- 143, 000 Blackberry devices activated
The total number of smartphones entering the world per day is 1.45 million. And not only are mobile devices increasing in prevalence, consumers are purchasing through them more and more. Back in June 2013 the number of purchases made on mobile devices for the first time exceeded those on desktop devices (source).
Mobile 1st
So how do business owners tap into this huge market? It begins by integrating the mobile side of 
business, which reflects a responsive design. This design is known as Mobile 1st. Mobile 1st designs webpages for the smaller, mobile screens first, then adds features and content for the larger and bigger screens. This specific design delivers brief amounts of pertinent information to potential customers on an extended home page.
business, which reflects a responsive design. This design is known as Mobile 1st. Mobile 1st designs webpages for the smaller, mobile screens first, then adds features and content for the larger and bigger screens. This specific design delivers brief amounts of pertinent information to potential customers on an extended home page.
From a tech perspective, mobile websites make sense as they utilize the small, constrained platform presented by device screens. As the space is so small, the content chosen to be represented is carefully selected. Building for mobile first thus allows for a clean user interface that can be easily expanded for desktop.
“Mobile 1st is an essential web package we put together for clients looking to get their first websites or to springboard their old, static design into a mobile responsive site that users can view easily on any device.” –Kit Mullins, CEO, Jemully Media
For customers, mobile websites also make sense as it allows for a great experience on the phone or tablet, as well as on the desktop version. This ensures that every person encountering the website has a positive experience.
A quote by Garth Stein comes to mind about how complex getting our ideas across to others can often be. He states, “Communication is often difficult as it involves moving parts. There’s presentation and there’s interpretation and both are equally dependent upon the other.”
How is your business currently presented and interpreted via mobile devices? If a mobile website doesn’t load or doesn’t load well, your potential customer will move on to the next. Mobile websites are the digital equivalent to the curb appeal of bricks-and-mortar businesses. If your facade is out-of-date or worn down, a passersby, whether in person or digital, won’t venture inside your doors.
Updating to a mobile website design aligns the concepts of presentation and interpretation into a unified commodity that continually builds success. It also helps business owners marry the concept of their business with the vision of digital innovation. A few years ago the mobile website was cutting edge, but now, on the cusp of 2015, mobile websites are simply a must.
