There are over 6.8 billion mobile devices in the world. Take a moment to let that sink in… That means about 87% of the world’s population has a mobile device of some kind- nearly half of which are smartphones. It’s estimated that by the end of 2013, there will be more mobile devices than people on earth. In fact, in some countries the number of mobile devices already exceeds the population.
Are you keeping up? More importantly, is your website? Chances are, how users are accessing your website now is a lot different than when you first launched your site. This means that your current website likely isn’t providing a consistent user experience across all devices.
It’s estimated that nearly 70% of Canadians are using mobile phones of some type and as of early 2013, approximately 56% of Canadian mobile phone users were smart phone users. This number is only expected to steadily increase as smart phone technology becomes more accessible. But mobile devices include more than just phones. Tablets are one of the fastest selling devices categories in history and have achieved the same level of adoption in three years that it took smartphones nearly a decade to achieve.
The challenge for web developers and designers is that each device has a different screen size and different display capabilities. Designing different versions of the same website to suit each screen size is a nearly impossible task, not to mention incredibly time consuming and costly. Successful marketers are using responsive design to overcome this challenge. Responsive web design ensures a consistent viewing experience across all devices and platforms, regardless of screen size.
Though mobile Internet usage in total has not yet surpassed desktop usage, this won’t be the case for much longer. In some targeted areas, mobile access is already keeping pace with desktop access. In particular, restaurant reviews are accessed on mobile almost as much as they’re accessed on desktops. As Eric Morris, Google Canada’s head of mobile advertising, points out there were more queries for restaurants via mobile on Valentine’s Day this year than on desktop.
Quite simply, if your current website isn’t mobile friendly, your customers will seek out a competitor whose site is.
Want to learn more about website design best practices? Download our Website Redesign Guide to learn how the strategic alignment of your website’s functionality, design, and content will help you achieve your marketing objectives. The Website Redesign Guide outlines critical questions you should understand when considering a new website, including how functionality is the foundation for your website, the importance of responsive design and why content trumps all.
