Until about two decades ago, very few people owned mobile phones. So businesses used conventional methods like posters and banners to advertise themselves. Apart from that, people walked into the offices of brands they wished to interact with for a consultation.
That’s why companies invested quite a bit in interior and exterior Decor. However, in 2007, the introduction of touchscreen smartphones changed everything. People could search for information about places and things online, explore what companies offered, and so on.
This is why companies introduced the concept of mobile-friendly website design, since many people used mobile phones to access websites. In fact, currently about 4.69 billion people use smartphones.
So optimizing your website for mobile phones is more important than ever. Let’s take a look at the reasons below.
Mobile-First Indexing: Why Google Prioritizes Mobile-Friendly Sites
In simple terms, mobile-first indexing refers to Google’s preference to index a website’s mobile version over the desktop version. Google introduced this shift due to the increase in mobile traffic.
Take a more in-depth look at it here:
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTUzxHdx2jY&pp=ygUcZ29vZ2xlIG1vYmlsZSBmaXJzdCBpbmRleGluZw%3D%3D
Caption: Google’s mobile first indexing 101
In fact, about 62.5% of website traffic comes from mobile phones, as of 2025. But how does mobile responsiveness affect your website’s rankings? If your website is mobile-friendly, then your customers will spend a longer time on your website. This is known as ‘dwell time’.
They will also be less likely to leave your website a short while after they access it. So you will also reduce your bounce rate. Bounce rate refers to the number of people who leave the website after accessing only one page.
Generally, an acceptable bounce rate is between 26% and 70%.
Apart from that, by focusing on a mobile-friendly website, you showcase that you respect user preferences. This will make more people visit your website and help you increase your traffic.
That’s because 74% of people will be likely to return to a website with a mobile-friendly website design. So we recommend making your existing websites responsive, rather than creating a separate website for mobile.
User Experience (UX) and Mobile-Friendly Websites: The Key to Customer Retention
Mobile users prefer websites that load fast since it helps them save data, and find the information they’re looking for. Apart from that, they like to browse websites that are easy to navigate.
After all, about 88% of customers will not return to a website with poor navigation capabilities.
Easily navigable websites refer to websites that have properly demarcated content, or content divided into sections. For example, say you have a website for your gym. Your desktop version website would contain details about the:
- Company
- Trainers
- Types of exercises
- Packages
- Awards received
- Sign up forms
However, if you include all these details in your mobile website, then it will lead to a cluttered interface. Apart from that, your customers will have to scroll a lot to find what they want. So how can you optimize this?
You can have a banner with an option to contact you, followed by sections about:
- Exercises you offer
- Trainers you have
- Facilities
- Sign up forms
You can opt for a tile format to make it easier on the customers’ eyes. Apart from that, you can include a chatbot with an option to access the other sections of the website. You can also opt for a more futuristic approach, as seen below.
The Rise of Mobile Shopping & Local Searches in Sacramento
Did you know that 56% of people prefer to use their mobile phones for shopping nowadays? This demonstrates the importance of local searches and certain on-page mobile page elements for eCommerce websites.
In other words, you must ensure that the website has all the features and elements to rank in the local searches. What do you mean by local searches? They refer to people located within a specific area searching for a business within the same area.
Some of the ways in which you can optimize your website for local searches are:
- Adding more depth to your Google My Business profile
Nowadays, every business needs a Google My Business profile to rank on the search engine results page. So you should create a robust profile by adding details like:
- Description about your business
- Detailed Address, phone number, timings
- Which category you service (for example: ‘cross-fit gym’ as opposed to just ‘gym)
- Listing your products and services
- Promotional offers, office or commercial space photographs and so on
These details will help Google’s bots index your business accordingly.
- Creating service pages
We would recommend creating separate pages listing details about the services you offer. This will ensure that those pages get displayed when customers search for certain services. You should also use the relevant keywords in those pages.
- Utilizing relevant keywords
Keyword research remains an important part of SEO rankings. So you should use reputed keyword research websites like SEMRUSH to search for keywords. Once you fine-tune your list, you should use them organically in your content.
In other words, you should use as many keywords as relevant. For example, if you run a Crossfit gym, then you should include keywords about:
- Your various exercises (bench press, dumbbell curls)
- Distance (best Crossfit gym near me, Crossfit gym near me)
- Including more FAQs
Almost 8% of all searches are question-based searches. That’s why you should focus on including an FAQ section in your website content. Theses should be relevant as per the service that you provide.
For example, if you provide web-design services, some FAQs you can include are:
- What services do you provide
- Do you provide free consultations
- Which locations do you service?
The Role of Mobile-Friendly Design in Driving Ad Performance
About 60% of people click on a mobile PPC advertisement weekly. This demonstrates the importance of mobile-friendly design to boost your digital marketing efforts. This is why you should create mobile ads that are visually engaging, have a catchy copy and have clear CTA.
For example, say you run a travel website, and are running a special offer for a flight from California to the Cayman Islands. Your ad should therefore have a:
- Photograph of a person relaxing on the beach with a refreshing beverage
- An ad copy that says: From California to The Cayman Islands: A Dream Vacation
- A CTA that says: Book your flight tickets to enjoy a 60% discount today!
These elements capture all the essential information about your offer, and include the location and discount offer. So if a user searches for a flight ticket discount from California to Cayman Islands, your ad will rank at the top.
You should ensure that your mobile advertisement is designed accordingly. Additionally, the scope for this can be seen in the fact that the market for mobile ads is projected to grow to $1005.96 billion by 2032.
Take a look at how to design responsive mobile ads here:
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v316VftbF3U&pp=ygUbTW9iaWxlLUZyaWVuZGx5IERpc3BsYXkgQWRz0gcJCb0Ag7Wk3p_U
Caption: Creating responsive Google Ads 101
So you should not miss out on creating good ads.
Key Elements of a Mobile-Friendly Website
Let us now consider some elements of a mobile-friendly website below.
- Responsive Design
It refers to website designs that adapt to the display of the devices being used. In other words, your website will remain the same, but the structure will change. The content will have free headings, and be more conversion-oriented.
- Minimal Pop-ups
You should reduce the popups on your website to ensure that your users’ viewing experience does not get constantly disrupted.
- Enhanced website speed
We would recommend opting for AMPs or Accelerated Mobile Pages, which use enhanced JavaScript, HTML coding and caching, with decreased server requests. This will ensure that your web pages or websites load faster, without any delay.
- Compressed Images
While you use high-quality images for your desktop sites, you should use images that retain the quality but have a smaller size for your mobile pages. The reduced image size will put less strain on the servers to load the website.
- Clickable buttons and Readable fonts
Finally, you should have action-oriented buttons that redirect users towards specific actions, such as:
- Buy now buttons
- Subscribe now buttons
Wrapping Up
As time passes, people will continue searching for content on mobile phones in new ways.
For instance, about 21% of people utilize voice search to find what they need. So, you should ensure that your website has the required keywords that align with how people voice search for things.
You should also continue A/B testing and studying your competitors to see what works with people. For instance, some trends that currently dominate are customized designs, parallax scrolling and fluid designs.
Parallax scrolling refers to the scenario when your website’s background moves slower than its foreground. Take a better look here.
So we hope that you now understand the importance of creating a mobile friendly website design. Do reach out in case of any doubts!