As we hurtle towards Christmas, the T.V. guide will
inevitably start to fill up with such delectable treats as ‘Most Shocking Celeb
Moments of 2014’, ‘Richest People of 2014’, and ‘Top Cars of 2014’. Notice the
theme?
Now whilst these shows may not be everyone’s cup of tea,
they certainly do provide a little perspective for us all.
So with "end-of-year-perspective" in mind, the whole team at Vital Hike have been
discussing the biggest changes we've seen for websites in 2014. But don’t worry;
we’re not going to count down the list from 100... because there was actually one
major game-changer in 2014.
And the winner is...
Mobile Overtakes Desktop Computers
In July of this year, industry leaders Search Engine Watch
reported mobile use officially overtaking desktop computer use for the first time ever. That's big news.
Mobile is clearly becoming the device of choice.
And 63.1% of these mobile consumers use their mobiles to browse the internet, which is a huge market for business websites and online shops to
tap into right now.
Rebecca Murtagh of SEW notes;
"How quickly and effectively
an organization plans, develops, and adapts
to deliver quality mobile
experiences
will likely become a competitive advantage."
Predictions of mobile overtaking desktop began in 2011, so
momentum for this major shift has been building for years. For Vital Hike, it
really began in 2013, but this year we have seen a massive increase in
customers requesting responsive websites that will work on mobiles and tablets.
What is So Different about Websites on Mobiles?
Viewing a website on a laptop can be wildly different to
viewing it on your mobile, but with 62% of the U.K. now owning a smartphone,
you've probably already experienced it!
Typically, you’re rolling the dice when you access a website
on your mobile. You never know if the website will load, have
finger-appropriate buttons, or if the buttons will even work.
So what are the
main differences between a desktop website and a mobile website?
1. User Experience
Experts in user experience, the Nielsen Norman Group state
that:
"The first requirement for an exemplary user experience
is to meet the exact needs of the customer, without fuss or bother.
Next comes simplicity and elegance..."
Websites that are designed solely for desktop computer users will not provide a fuss-free, simple and elegant user experience on mobile devices. They are sized for a much bigger screen and are designed to work with a mouse pointer, rather than a much larger finger, among other issues.
In order to make it work for both, websites have to be
designed responsively. This means lots of coding going on behind the
scenes in order to make sure the website can detect the type of device it’s
being used on, and adapt accordingly.
Text, images, buttons and menus will rearrange themselves to
better fit the mobile screen, so users don’t have to zoom in and out to make
sense of things. Buttons enlarge to become more accessible for fingers, and
drop down menus typically transform into full-screen size menus to provide the
expected mobile-website format.
Like this BBC News Mobile website menu below!
 |
| The BBC News mobile website has a main menu that takes up the whole screen for ease of use |
2. Where Users are Accessing the Internet
Picture yourself using your desktop computer to make a
purchase online.
You’re probably sitting at a desk, in your office or living
room, trying to make the purchase quickly so you can rush off before that T.V.
show starts.
Now picture yourself making a purchase online via your
mobile.
You could literally be anywhere. (Within reason though, as
you will probably need a juicy wi-fi connection to ensure you don’t lose
signal!)
You could be waiting for a bus, travelling on the bus, walking to a lunch date, or
browsing through your emails before bed. 75% of Americans even admit to using their phone on the toilet.
The point of this little mental exercise is to highlight the
psychological difference of using mobiles versus desktop computers. People are
in a very different head-space when browsing online via mobile, and are
typically on the move with poor signal. This means mobile websites need to load
fast and get to the point.
Mobile users have no time for trawling through ‘Welcome’ text
that fills the homepage and talks about the company’s history. They want ‘short
and sweet’ and big, clear buttons.
With responsive websites, we can hide text that would be
inappropriate for mobile use and also make buttons adapt to adjust the
experience for this different target audience. Simple; one website, two target audiences.
 |
| On this responsive website, you can see that everything subtly rearranges for the smaller mobile version, and the banner at the top is hidden. |
3. Ruthlessness of Mobile Users
With most mobile users accessing the internet whilst out and
about, they have definitely become a lot more ruthless.
We have mentioned before that mobile users will not tolerate
reams and reams of text, but that’s just the beginning. Websites that are slow
to load, websites that won’t load, websites with broken buttons or links,
websites that redirect you… They will all face the chopping block, as mobile
users will simply leave.
With users leaving your website, you will start to rack up a
high bounce rate.
This is generally a bad sign as it suggests your website was
hard to use or didn’t provide enough of a reason to stick around. A high bounce rate is the scourge of mobile websites because it's generally the sign of a problem. (However, it can also occur if people are just going to your website to get a phone number, then leave to call you, so it's not a clear cut issue).
 |
| Googling whilst out and about! |
Imagine you're in the middle of town and you need a shoe repair, so you Google “local shoe repair”
on your phone.
Google provides you with a list of 10 nearby shoe repair shops.
If you haven’t heard of any of them, the only way to judge
their worth is through their website.
What do you think mobile users will do if one of these
shops doesn't have a website, or if their website is slow to load on
mobiles? They’ll toss it aside and try the next one!
Ruthless I tell you!
To combat this, mobile websites must be sleek, lightweight,
fast and efficiently designed. There is no room for excess.
Two years ago, there definitely wasn't as big of a push
towards mobile, but now it’s everywhere.
Econsultancy’s review of the Ofcom Communications Market Report 2014 found that smartphone usage has risen from 39% in 2011,
to 61% in 2013. By the end of 2014 we could potentially see 75% of the
U.K. with a smartphone and in 5 years time, standard computers might be nearly
obsolete...
In Scotland alone, 16- 34 year olds currently use their
laptop and smartphone in equal measure, whilst 20% of the 35 – 54 age group use
a tablet more than a desktop computer or smartphone.
What To Do For Your Website Right Now
There are 6 weeks left of 2014, so it’s time to
think about adapting your website for the rising surge of mobile users, before
the next big thing comes along!
Already we have two new technologies that could affect how your business website works...
1. Apple Pay was released with the latest iPhone, which lets users
save their credit card details onto their phone and pay through the app.
Currently this can be used in-store and
in certain apps, but in the future, maybe this feature will be integrated onto
websites.
2. Voice Search is also rising in popularity, where users can
search Google using their voice. This will no doubt see a massive change in the
phrasing people search with, meaning SEO keywords will need to become more
colloquial in order to rank your website high. We can only wait and see how voice search will compete with standard search.
Get in Touch With Our Team Today
For Help With Your Website
Vital Hike
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