The harsh reality is that over 50% of visitors to your website are doing so via their smart phone. And if those visitors can't use your site properly using only their thumb and with a patience limited to three seconds loading - they are gone, off to one of your competitors who’ve actually spent time to properly consider their mobile experience. Mobile optimisation isn't just a ‘nice to have’ feature; today it's a fundamental requirement. Neglecting it not only costs you customers and revenue but also relevance and reputation.
The ‘Mobile-First’ principle is the reality in 2025
These stark figures are proof enough that you need to prioritise a mobile-first approach with your website:
Majority Rules: Mobile traffic is responsible for almost 60% of all internet traffic (worldwide). That's a colossal figure and if you think of it in terms of a physical shop, it's like closing up at lunchtime!
Bounce Rate: Websites which haven't been properly optimised for mobile are punished with a very high bounce rate. That's because as users, we simply don't have the attention span or patience to wait for slow loading sites that aren't intuitive to use.
Revenue Drain: Every one of your visitors who bounces away on their mobile is a potential customer who could've been converted… you made all that effort to get them there, and then you gave them no reason to stay!
The one-minute Thumb Challenge
The diagnosis of a poorly optimised site is actually really easy, and we're going to go through it with you now. This 60-Second "Thumb Test” will help you diagnose the issue:
- Load up your site on your phone and navigate to the main menu. Is it easy to access all the main pages without it being fiddly or unintuitive?
- Now attempt to fill out your own contact form. Is it easy to do on your mobile phone, is it even possible!?
- Next up, try and complete a purchase. How many clicks have you had to do? Are the purchase and cart buttons easy to find?
- Try and read the content on the pages that you've been scrolling through. Is the attached legible? Have you had to zoom multiple times?
If you have found difficulties in any one of these four areas it's time to optimise your site for mobile!
What does the term "Mobile-First" actually mean and how can it drive revenue?
Firstly, a mobile first approach doesn't just mean shrinking your site to fit on a phone! It means a fundamental shift in the design philosophy behind your site, one that prioritises the user. It means:
- Incredibly fast loading times on mobile. That's under three seconds. more than this and you've lost potential customers.
- Easy to use navigation. Can you use menus, links and CTA buttons with a thumb?
- Easy to read. Text must be legible and large enough that you don't have to zoom in to read it. Call to action buttons must be very clear, prominent and easy to use with real-time feedback.
- Condensed forms. Form fields need to be simple and abbreviated so that data entry is as easy as possible.
Make the necessary changes now before the losses become irrevocable
Every day your website languishes behind your competitors' offerings, you are falling further and further behind in what is essentially an arms race.
The welcome news is that a mobile-first approach doesn't have to be that expensive. An experienced mobile developer such as Web Choice can cost-effectively build upon what's already there to provide a seamless, intuitive, fast-loading website.
Each of us has experienced the frustration of trying to use a website that simply hasn't been designed to work on a phone. Get in touch with the team at Web Choice with any issues that are holding your site back, and we will help give each and every visitor to your site the experience they deserve!
