What is Mobile-First Design? And Why is it Important for your Website?

Mobile-first design is the concept that you start designing your website for mobile devices before scaling up to larger screens like desktops. It means you think about how your site will look and function on a smartphone first, ensuring that it’s user-friendly on smaller screens. Once you have a solid mobile design, you adapt it to fit larger screens.

However, it’s not that straightforward!

Most website design platforms including the two we work with most (Wix and WordPress) are set up for desktop-first design – with the design simply cascading down to smaller screens like tablet and mobile. Whilst you can and should then look at these smaller screen designs and amend them with a mobile audience in mind, many people ignore this or forget to check.

Is mobile-first design new?

Not by a longshot! In fact, Google has been prioritising mobile-first design since at least 2010, with the first mobile-first indexing rolled out in March 2018. And, as of July 2024, Google has said it will stop indexing sites that are not mobile-friendly altogether.

Evidence of the importance of mobile-first design also goes back even further, as this quote shows:

But does my website really need to be designed for mobile?

When thinking about your website, your aim is to be as accessible as possible to as many people as possible – right?

So, whether or not you think you would look at your website on mobile is somewhat irrelevant. Even B2B clients are finding that their site is accessed more via mobile as it is often quicker to check via mobile than firing up your PC.

While our own website shows a 71% desktop / 29% mobile split for August 2024, a survey of our SEO clients for the same period shows that the average split is a little more even with 56% desktop / 42% mobile / 2% tablet (as shown in this pie chart).

This shows that many visitors still use mobile to access information, even when it is B2B focused – so mobile-first design is still important.

5 Reasons Why Mobile-First Design is Crucial

#1. More People Are on Mobile

How often you use your smartphone to browse the web? If you’re anything like me, then you access it whenever you have a question and search often in the hours you’re not sat in front of a computer.

In the first quarter of 2024 according to Statista, 95.9% of global internet users accessed the internet using a mobile device, while 62.2% used a laptop or desktop.

Here in the UK, 56.4% of web usage was via mobile, whilst 38.4% was via desktop and only 5.2% was via tablet (Statcounter, August 2024).

This means a significant portion of your visitors may be using smartphones so designing your site with these users in mind ensures they have the best user experience whether they are in the office or on the move!

#2. Enhanced User Experience

Mobile-first design focuses on simplicity and ease of use. Mobile screens are smaller, so the design need to prioritise key content and features. This often results in cleaner, more streamlined websites that are easier to navigate. When a site is easy to use on a mobile device, visitors are more likely to stay longer and return.

#3. Faster Load Times

Speed matters, especially on mobile. Mobile-first design involves optimising images and code to ensure quick load times. A site that loads slowly on a phone can be frustrating and lead to users leaving and looking elsewhere.

Faster load times improve user experience and can also boost your site’s performance in search engine rankings.

#4. Better Search Engine Rankings

Search engines like Google prioritise mobile-friendly websites – and as we’ve seen this has been the case for at least the last decade. This means that if your site isn’t optimised for mobile devices, it may won’t rank as well in search results. Mobile-first design helps your site meet these search engine criteria, improving your visibility and making it easier for potential visitors to find you.

#5. Future-Proofing Your Site

Our online world is constantly evolving, with new devices and technologies emerging regularly. Mobile-first design ensures your site is adaptable to future changes. By focusing on mobile from the start, you create a foundation that can easily be adjusted to accommodate new screen sizes and devices.

It also means that you can provide a user experience that outperforms your competitors - and that's got to be a good thing too.

Mobile-first design is more than a trend; it’s a necessity in today’s mobile-driven world. By starting with mobile users in mind, you enhance user experience, improve load times, boost search engine rankings, and future-proof your site.

Whether you’re designing a new site or revamping an existing one, keeping mobile users at the forefront will set you up for success.

And that's where Web Goddess can help! If you're not sure where to start or are not sure how your visitors are currently accessing your site, give us a shout!