The importance of making sure your website is mobile friendly

Smartphones have undoubtedly become an indispensable part of our daily lives.

According to Google, Smartphone penetration has risen to 51% of the population and these smartphone owners are becoming increasingly reliant on their devices. 59% access the internet every day on their smartphone and most never leave home without it (‘Our Mobile Planet’ UK 2012 report).

Despite the global smartphone market and mobile searches continuing to skyrocket by the minute, we’ve found many businesses are making the same mistake: thinking their traditional website will still appeal to mobile users.

Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is, it won’t. One of the reasons why is because you’re alienating your smartphone audience by thinking your current website will do the same job as a mobile responsive site.

Mobile phones have smaller displays and often distort visuals on regular websites. Desktop sites can also be slow to load (if they load at all), and virtually impossible to navigate on mobile devices. Poorly designed websites can only result in two things (1) extremely frustrated visitors and (2) leads that go elsewhere because they haven’t got the time or patience to wait for your site to load properly.

Here’s another interesting stat from Google for you to consider, 57% of users won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site, and 40% have turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience (Mobileplaybook UK 2012 report).