You’ve probably heard of it many times, but what does it mean to have “mobile-first” websites?
In web design and development, “mobile-first” websites means user mobile friendly. Thus, you need to create a website design with mobile users in mind. In addition, Mobile-first means knowing how to get your content across to your target audience through mobile devices – straightforward and clean.
Why? It’s because we, people, use our phones almost all the time. We use it for browsing, online interaction, and even entertainment. Where would people search if they want to know something? Which device would they pick up if they were going to shop online? It’s their phones because it’s more convenient.
What Kind of Design Is “Mobile-First” In Websites?
Mobile-first design means sending information to your target audience without worrying about fancy buttons, hover menus, and sliders. This design is all about making the lives of your website visitors even more convenient because you’ve laid out everything for them. Once people look at their website, they already know what they should do because your website guides them easily.
Everyone is constructing mobile-first websites because of Google. When mobile internet usage first overtook desktop in 2016, Google came up with the concept of mobile-first indexing. As a result, Google is changing how its search engine ranks websites.
For example, if a person searches on their phone, websites with better mobile than desktop usability have a higher chance of being on top of the 1st page. Because Google is all about making things easier for its users, it’s easy to see why this is a top focus.
Mobile-First Vs. Responsive Design: Are There Any Differences?
The fundamental distinction between responsive web design and mobile-first design is the web designer’s strategy in creating the website.
A responsive website is reactive to fit the screens of any device. Its design moves smoothly so that the web visitor will better view the images, texts, and call-to-action buttons.
Meanwhile, a mobile-first website features proactive modifications to its overall design. The web designer creates and designs a website with a desktop site. Thus, the mobile experience of web visitors is just as good as when using a desktop.
While both designs make your website available on all platforms, a mobile-first strategy provides a superior overall user experience. It’s because of various factors, such as white space, font size, and load speed. Thus, you must consider these elements during the design phase. You can also discuss it with your local web designer if you work with a web designer in San Jose, CA.
You must identify if your web visitors use their mobile devices when browsing through your website. If not, what could they use most of the time?
Responsive design may be the way to go if your visitors still prefer desktop computers. As a website owner, your objective should always be to make navigation as simple as possible for your visitors. Your visitors will get the information they need quickly and simply with mobile-first and responsive design, which will keep them coming back.
Why Mobile-First Design Matter for Your Website?
There are two primary reasons why mobile-first websites matter. First, mobile-first design is an audience-based strategy. Second, it helps in increasing community engagements.
What does it mean? If you know that half or more of your visitors are using a mobile device to access your website (and they are!), it makes no sense to build just for the desktop.
For example, if you found out that 90% of your target audience use Instagram as their primary source of information about your brand, you’d want to focus your strategy on that Platform. Therefore, you will use most of your energy and efforts to create great Instagram content. Then, you can leave some room in your schedule for the remaining 10% for adapting content on Facebook.
It makes sense to consider a mobile-first website when you know that your audience is shopping online, adding to carts, and doing checkouts through their smartphones.
A mobile-first design can help your website recruit and retain community members who would never see the design on a desktop computer.
It’s critical to make your website accessible on mobile devices because most people of this generation use it. As a result, people who feel safe and admire your website would most likely stay connected and support your business.
4 Tips For A Good Mobile-First Design
Here are some quick tips to help you get started. Create a mobile-first website for the best results.
Tip #1 – Mobile-first = Content-first
When it comes to mobile-first design, one thing to keep in mind is that content is king. You must provide your users with only the information they want to see. Anything else could obstruct and distract from the experience of your users.
After all, designing for mobile devices imposes a significant screen size constraint. It means that you must evaluate all of your content and arrange it in a visual hierarchy based on its importance to your user.
Tip #2 – An Easy To Navigate Website
One way to make your website mobile-first is to make it easy to navigate.
Condense your secondary elements into navigational buttons that are easy to reach. A hamburger menu is a tried-and-true method of accomplishing it. Hamburger menus are a very good technique for your users to access secondary elements. It helps your users locate what they’re looking for by going to the hamburger menu.
However, hamburger menus come with a catch – low engagement. Hidden navigation buttons, such as hamburger menus, reduce content discoverability by 21%, according to a study by user design research firm Nielsen/Norman Group. Not only that, but it also adds an average of two seconds to the time it takes to use the navigation.
So, what can you do? The alternative is to do combo navigation. It allows the users to view the items or items they need the most with combo navigation. Then, you can put the least essential details in a hamburger menu or something similar. The site’s material is so well-organized that navigation buttons are almost unnecessary. They can easily browse down the page to find what they’re looking for.
Tip #3 – Keep It Simple
A good mobile-first design is straightforward. You should never, especially on mobile, burden your users with additional elements like adverts, pop-ups, and other content they don’t want to see.
Tip #4 – Keep Your Web Visitors In Mind
When it comes to mobile-first design, the most important thing to remember is that you’re doing it for your users or web visitors. You can probably forget to design a website if it doesn’t add value to your users’ experience.
Then, combine mobile-first design with these qualities of a good website. You can definitely build a beautiful website that ranks on different search engines.
Conclusion
“Mobile-first” indicates “user-friendly” in websites. As a result, you must build your website with mobile consumers in mind. Knowing how to get your content to your target audience via their mobile devices straightforwardly is what mobile-first means.
If you can do both, it’s the best option. First, ask your San Jose web designer about the designs and elements you want to put on your website. If you don’t have one yet, feel free to contact Salazar Digital. We’ve helped countless businesses in the Bay Area create their website.
Salazar Digital
1172 Murphy Ave suite #208, San Jose, CA 95131, United States
408-662-1315
