Mobile website traffic is on the increase but still often overlooked. This presentation gives an overview of why you should always keep mobile in mind when building websites.
21. Three types of mobile site
RESPONSIVE - the website ‘responds’ to the size of the screen. It’s one
design that reacts to different screensizes and devices.
MOBILE SITES - a version of the site created specifically for mobile devices.
This is a completely different versions of the site.
MOBILE APPS – an app needs to be downloaded on a device. Used more
like software than a website but can be useful for sites where users engage
regularly, e.g. eBay.
22. PROS
• CONSISTENT USER EXPERIENCE
• EASIER TO UPDATE
• SEO BENEFITS
• EASIER TO SHARE CONTENT
• FUTURE FRIENDLY
CONS
• MORE PLANNING
• LONGER PAGE LOAD TIMES
• BOOKING FORMS DIFFICULT
• LIMITED ACCESS TO PHONE
FEATURES
23. PROS
• QUICKER LOAD TIMES
• EASIER TO MATCH USER INTENT
• EASIER TO ANALYSE DATA
• NO NEED TO HIDE CONTENT
CONS
• LONGER TO UPDATE
• WORSE FOR SHARING
• WORSE FOR SEO
• LESS CONSISTENT USER EXPERIENCE
24. PROS
• ACCESS PHONE FEATURES
• SAVE USER DATA EASIER
• QUICKER LOAD TIMES
• AVAILABLE OFFLINE
CONS
• USERS HAVE TO OPT IN/INSTALL
• NO SEO BENEFIT
• HARDER TO SHARE
• MORE EXPENSIVE TO DEVELOP
• APPROVAL PROCESS LONG
25. Whatever you use…
Make sure it’s fast!
74% OF VISITORS WILL
ADANDON YOUR SITE IF
IT TAKES MORE THAN 5
SECONDS TO LOAD
35. In Summary…
• Mobile usage is huge, and getting bigger!
• Don’t make assumptions on people just because they’re mobile users
• Mobile usage peaks on commuting hours
• Social is one of the most popular uses of mobile
• Make sure sites load quickly on mobiles
• Don’t just replicate your desktop site
• Test your site on mobile, is it a good experience?
• Don’t ignore you mobile audience!
In January last year mobile traffic (phone and tablet combined) was less than a quarter of total traffic, by December it was over a third.
It’s now close to 50% and is predicted to make up the majority of all internet traffic as early as next month!
Over 60% of people in the UK have smartphones. More than 90% of 18-24 year olds have them. While the % for older people is much lower there are still nearly a third of over 55s with smartphones, and this will only increase over time.
It’s clear to see the rise in phone ownership in the UK.
…and future generations will grow up without knowing a world before smartphones.
People use different devices at different times of the day. Mobiles are popular with commuters while tablets are most popular during evenings.
Social is big on mobiles, but we’ll cover this more later on.
People are becoming more comfortable using mobiles to buy expensive products. The travel industry is one area where mobile purchases are growing quickly.
Let’s have a look at a couple of mobile myths…
Are mobile users always ‘on the move’?
The majority of smartphone data is consumed indoors. Mobiles are very popular as ‘second screens’ where people use their phones while watching TV.
Another myth is that mobile users are easily distracted
This all depends on the context though.
Looking at this we’d expect the person using their desktop at home to be able to give our website more focus, however…
Mobile users may be able to focus better. They might have more time and fewer distractions. They may have a keyboard extension making it easier to use the phone. They will often have headphones to block out distractions.
At home there are always a lot of things to distract people on websites. This could be the TV, cooking dinner or demanding kids!
Two different apps but users may have both and will use the appropriate one depending on their context
We’ve all been frustrated with poor mobile experiences in the past. These are three different types of bad experiences:
Too much going on
A site that doesn’t work at all on mobile
And
Annoying popup messages
There are three different ways to improve your site on a mobile.
Generally the preferred option for a lot of sites.
Used by some still, but difficult to keep up-to-date with new devices and screen sizes being developed constantly.
Only really useful for very popular sites that get used regularly.
Time is even more important on mobile sites. At the risk of sterotyping mobiles will sometimes have slower connections so a quick site is vital.
This graph shows the things that people do on their phones every day.
This shows that over two thirds of people using facebook do so from their mobiles. Do you think the % of twitter is higher or lower from that of facebook.
How about instagram?
…and linkedin?
What about photo sharing site pinterest?
..blogging site tumblr?
Video sharing site vine?
And finally, photo messaging site snapchat?
As we can see, mobile is a huge sauce of traffic for most of the major social networks.