And according to statistics, it is expected that more and more mobile users will use tablets or smartphones for all kinds of online activities. Well, all these statistics showed that mobile is taking over the desktop. Whether it’s about playing games, online shopping, paying bills or ordering food, people prefer to choose or make a purchase via smartphones; it’s very clear for all businesses that they should adopt the mobile-first strategy.
Let us understand what does it mean by mobile-first strategy?
As itself, its definition suggests preferring mobile or opting for mobile-first. A mobile-first approach refers to designing and launching a website for mobile users first and then for desktop users. Let us have a look at a few of the reasons that will help you understand why and how a mobile-first approach should be preferable for businesses:
Remember, if you want to drive customer engagement or stay in touch with them, then your website should be on the mobile. According to studies, it is observed that the screen time of an average user is around five hours on their phone; checking their phones almost more than 80 times a day. So, if you have only desktop users, it won't help.
All the small and large companies should understand the true potential and importance of mobile-first strategy. To stay ahead in the competition or to get a direct reach of the customers, your website should be visible all the time to their smartphones, tablets or other mobile devices.
Mark Zuckerberg, an American internet entrepreneur and co-founder of Facebook, said that you are going to be successful and will make a lot of money if your website is easily accessible on mobile rather than on desktop. Well, this again, indicated that how mobile-first strategy is important and businesses need to be on mobile. If truth be told, we hardly access our Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp account on the desktop. Or we say that we can’t imagine doing anything without our phones. One of the researches also revealed that more than 80 per cent of Twitter users in America preferred to access their accounts on mobile phones. It was observed that there was more internet usage on mobile or tablet devices as compared to the desktop in October 2016. In fact, in the US, around 40 million people are mobile users. So, this is conveying a message that people prefer to use mobile phones over laptops or computers for online activities.
Implementing a mobile-first design is quite crucial for better customer experience. People want to get anything at their fingertips. All they want to access their accounts on their smartphones with ease and convenience. So, you can imagine how easily you will get your customers and make their experience enjoyable if your website is on the mobile.
Apart from this, it is imperative to take care of your customers' needs or demands. For this, it is advisable to design a mobile website to offer better user experience, i.e. minimise website loading time and navigation options. As this will make user’s screens less cluttered, which in turn enhance their experience, i.e. they are more likely to purchase and want to return for more purchase.
Mark Zuckerberg also considered mobile as Facebook’s future because he believed that people prefer to spend time on their smartphones, and it would be better to advertise on mobile and make more revenue. One of the studies also showed that the topmost retailers generated more sales and revenue from mobile. For instance, some advertising tactics, i.e. use of push notifications that can constantly remind your customers about your services or products. So, advertising on the mobile will help businesses or retailers to reach their customers, and in turns better revenue.
Well, if you have already adopted a mobile-first approach, then you are good to go. However, if you are still thinking, then wait no more, you are losing your customer base, and you are not going ahead in the competition. As one of the project directors of Indus Net Technologies said that if your website is not practising mobile-first design, then you are nowhere in the field.