The world continues to increase its use of mobile devices. Customers contact and research businesses on smart phones and tablets more today than ever before. Businesses need to increase their website’s mobility response if they are to create a satisfying interface with their customer base. Read on for 10 reasons why your business needs mobile responsive WordPress website design.
Why Your Business Needs Mobile Responsive WordPress Website Design
Australian mobile device ownership.
Between 2013 and 2015, Australians increased their mobile device ownership from 6.5 million to 11.1 million devices.
In that same time frame, Australians’ ownership of mobile tablets moved from 6.3 million to 11.2 million.
Australian mobile device use.
The trend shown above makes sense, considering that Australians used their smartphones and tablets 63% of the time that they were online as of September 15, 2015.
In fact, desktop usage remained almost flat, with minor ups and downs between June 2014 and April 2016, at just under 400,000 total sessions each month.
Smartphones on the other hand, began an upward trend in June 2014 at around 275,000 sessions up to a high in April 2016 of nearly 500,000 total sessions.
Tablets, meanwhile, ended just about where it began (100,000 sessions) during the same period, with moderate increases and decreases in between the start and end dates.
It’s not just an Australian thing.
If your business reaches out to global customers, you will want to know that the trend toward mobile device use is big in the UK, US and other countries. In 2015, US mobile device use was 51% of the total internet time spent per adult per day compared to only 12% five years ago. That’s an increase by more than four times in only five years.
In the UK, adults browsing the internet spend 66 hours per month on smartphones. This compares to 87 hours per month in the US. Both hourly statistics compare to 34 hours (US) and 29 (UK) per month browsing on a desktop.
10 reasons why your business needs mobile responsive WordPress website design.
1. Research on buying from smartphones.
Research shows that millennials do 40% of before buying research on their smartphones. This result is more than two times the number of adults 35+ who do the same kind of research on smartphones.
2. Mobile activity produces more results than television.
Think with Google highlights market research findings that show in 2015 that 68% of Australians used their smartphones to research products online while they were in the store.
3. Smart phone use impact on stores.
In addition, Google research in 2016 found that 76% of people who research smartphones for products nearby visit a store within a day.
4. Mobile sites’ impact on buying.
Google’s research also indicated that 58% of smartphone users were more likely to buy from companies that have mobile sites or apps that allow them to buy products quickly.
5. Mobile first.
Some experts consider the move to mobile devices as mobile first. However, Google says that its research shows that people grab the nearest device to quickly get the answers they seek. That means business websites must preserve the flexibility to reach potential customers on mobile devices or desktops.
6. Mobile everywhere.
Marketing flexibility includes reaching out across devices, channels and formats. In fact, Google research in 2016 showed that 57% of people use more than one device in a day.
7. With so much reliance on mobile devices, businesses must make their websites responsive.
WordPress is perfect for making websites mobile-friendly. While mobile apps are still useful, research has shown that people will not download an app for a business they use once in a while. They will, however, want to browse your website in a mobile-friendly way.
8. What does mobile-friendly mean to you?
Mobile-friendly in this context means:
- you want to use SEO to encourage people to travel to your site;
- you encourage social sharing of content on your site;
- you have limited resources or limited web design skills to develop or change your website into a mobile-friendly site; and
- you want to offer your content and the same type of visitor experience across several types of devices.
9. What makes WordPress responsive?
The following changes to WordPress over the years have made it possible to create mobile responsive websites instead of separate mobile-only websites. After all, separate mobile sites mean that your mobile visitors do not have the same experience they would if they were visiting from a desktop computer. Today’s mobile visitors are not satisfied with that.
10. The following changes to WordPress help make responsive websites easier:
- Responsive Administrative Screens mean you can manage your site from wherever you are from any nearby device.
- RICG Responsive Images ensures that even the smallest images sent to the website look good on the smaller mobile screen. The anticipated release of WordPress 4.4 will include responsive images in the core so you will not need to use plug-ins to create responsive images.
- WP-REST API: suffice it to say that developers will no longer have to query WordPress’s database using PHP. Instead, the WordPress database can power anything that can use a JSON object. (JSON is an open-standard format using “human-readable” text to send data structures to exchange information between different applications.) This means that WordPress is now an app development platform.
- Responsive Themes: Any responsive mobile platform needs responsive themes, and WordPress has many.
To talk more about this topic or anything else, please contact us. We want to help you grow your business.
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Further Information:
12 Tactics to Increase WordPress Website Speed
8 Top WordPress Security Plugins for Business Websites
10 Plugins that Showcase the Versatility of WordPress Website Design
7 Strategic Mobile Responsive Website Design Benefits
10 Signs Your Outdated Website Should Be Upgraded to WordPress
10 Ways to Improve Your Search Ranking for Your WordPress Website
WordPress Website Image Best Practices for SEO, Speed and Engagement
9 Essential Website Features for Remote Users
12 WordPress Web Design Tips for Small Businesses
10 Best Practices for a Successful WordPress Website Design Project
