If you are a small business owner, have a website, and have not been living in a hole in the ground then there is a good chance you have heard about the concepts of “mobile first” and “mobile friendly”. A mobile-friendly design simply means a website design that prioritizes the mobile experience, rather than treating it as an afterthought.
So what is mobile first, and why would you need it for your website or online business?
Why Mobile?
In the most brief and direct way, mobile is where the customers (and money) are.
Here’s a nifty graph telling you what you likely already know; people access the internet on their phone more often than on a desktop or laptop. This ratio has changed dramatically over the last five years:
How To Check Mobile-Friendliness
It’s unlikely this mobile trend is going to reverse itself, so the real question to ask is: how does my site design stack up to these changing requirements? You can try Google’s mobile-friendly tool or, better yet, contact Go Local Interactive today and let us help you find those answers!
Mobile First Means Responsive Design
A mobile first approach involves the idea of “responsive design”. A responsive design simply responds to its environment. This includes adapting to the different specifications that come when viewing a website on a desktop, mobile device or tablet.
Google Prioritizes Mobile Content
Google has foreseen the emergence of a mobile-centric web when planning for how it represents and prioritizes search results. From Google’s Webmaster Central Blog:
“Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”
So What Now?
If you planned ahead and your site is already mobile friendly, relax. You’ll be fine.
If not, and your competitors have mobile friendly websites and you don’t, contact Go Local right away so we can preserve and expand on your web presence. Don’t let the changing technology of the web leave you out in the cold and not optimized on search engines results!