Take a minute to think about what devices you use to access the internet and when you choose one device (like a laptop or phone) versus the other. Often, people use desktops or laptops to read text-heavy pieces of content, like the news. After all, studies have shown text is easier to read on a large screen compared to a small screen. Those same studies show that when people know they’re going to have a “short session” online, like checking social media or buying something they suddenly remember they need, they’ll use their phones. The reason is they don’t need to read a lot of text to accomplish their goal.
But people are turning to their mobile phones more and more every year. So it’s more important than ever to figure out what devices people access your website on, and what may be influencing those choices.
As of 2023, mobile traffic and desktop traffic are both at a dead even 50%. Half of all website traffic is coming from a mobile device. So if you sell products on your site, you want to make sure the shopping experience on a smartphone includes a well-designed user interface along with a fast speed. We’ve helped dozens of companies make sure their websites are easy to find online and work well on mobile phones and desktops. If you don’t make sure of this, you’re simply ignoring half of your potential customers. That said, you don’t want to redesign your site so much that desktop customers are left dissatisfied.
In this post, we’re going to lay out some important website statistics related to devices. Soak them in as you think about site design, SEO strategy, and more. Most importantly, we hope these statistics prove to you that just because you shop online or read online with a certain device doesn’t mean everyone else is doing it the same way.
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E-Commerce and Mobile Phones Statistics
Over the last year, an estimated 56% of all online sales came from a mobile device. That means people started and completed a purchase on the mobile version of a website, a link through social media on a phone, or an app. In the 2022 holiday season, desktop and tablet devices were responsible for the majority of sales. That’s significantly more than the 2021 holiday season.
Most experts say it is much more likely that e-commerce customers will be interacting with your website from a smartphone or tablet than a laptop. You want to make sure it’s a good experience. After all, statistics show that 40% of users will go to your competition after a bad mobile experience. They won’t put down their phone and open their laptop to go back to your website. They’ll just choose a mobile site that works.
This is why it’s essential to create mobile responsive and user-friendly websites. Some easy website makers, like Wix, allow you to create a simple mobile site. But you should use more advanced software, or a third-party vendor, to take your mobile site to the next level. At SEO Design Chicago, we specialize in creating unique mobile websites that differ from a company’s desktop version.
If you don’t believe that smartphones are really the go-to future of online shopping, check out the following statistics:
- 84% of Americans who are adults own a smartphone
- 270 million U.S. shoppers own smartphones
- At least 79% of smartphone users have made an online purchase using their mobile device in the last 6 months
- 80% of shoppers use a smartphone inside of a physical store to either look up product reviews, compare prices, or find better prices at other stores
- A 2023 U.S. Online Retail Report projects that 42% of retail sales growth this year will be e-commerce
- Mobile commerce sales are expected to account for $710 billion in commerce sales by 2025
Why You Can’t Ignore These Mobile Commerce Statistics
Ignoring these trends in mobile commerce (or m-commerce) means potentially missing out on a lot of revenue. AI may change the way users search, but the trend towards people shopping with mobile devices will only increase. That’s why you want to make sure your website is user-friendly on smartphones.
At SEO Design Chicago, we’ll design your website specifically for mobile phones, while retaining its great appearance on a desktop or laptop. In other words, your website should be programmed to adapt to whatever device is accessing it in order to provide the most user-friendly experience.
What does that mean?
- Your mobile site must have large buttons and links. Fingers are bigger than cursors, so your mobile site must have the appropriate size and margin to prevent errors.
- Tap-to-call phone numbers must be implemented. Make sure all phone numbers are text and not images so users can tap-to-call. Don’t make people copy and paste a number.
- Focus on visuals, not text. Since mobile websites are usually viewed on the go and on much smaller screens, pictures, infographics, and videos will be preferred over reading lengthy text. Studies show text is hard to read on any screen, but it’s even worse on mobile devices.
- Move the main navigation so people can see it. Increase spacing around menu items so it’s easy for the user to read and tap on menu items.
SEO for Mobile Websites – How Is It Different and How Is It the Same?
Google doesn’t like websites that aren’t mobile-friendly. The platform looks at how fast and user-friendly your mobile site is and it rewards the best-performing sites. If you want your website to rank high in search engine results pages (SERPs), even if you are mostly concerned with your desktop site, the mobile site must look good and be fast too.
SEO Design Chicago can take a look at your website – on both desktops and mobile devices – to see how the design could be affecting the site’s rank. We can use Google Pagespeed Insights tool to get a mobile speed score. Depending on the website platform you’re using, increasing the speed of your website may be a simple fix. You may be able to fix the mobile version of a website when trying to decide where it should rank in SERPs.
Responsive Website Design
When going through a website design or redesign project, you must consider usability on a mobile device. Website redesigns are one of our most popular services. We take the way a website looks and works on a mobile device just as seriously as how a website looks and works on a desktop. In addition, we don’t just jump to the stage where we show you new versions of your site. We create mockups and layouts for mobile users and desktop users, making sure the website is easy to use on both. We also don’t rely on pre-designed templates. Instead, we use responsive coding, a language that makes sure your website resizes automatically to whatever device your website is being used on.
How SEO Design Chicago Can Help with Mobile Sites
Some businesses already have good websites, but they need to integrate e-commerce on their site in order to begin generating online sales. This goes along with another factor, called mobile optimization. On a smartphone, all text should be aligned properly and advertisements should not be taking up the bottom half of the screen. You should also remove banners. If you choose to run ads on your e-commerce store, or any website that is designed for mobile users, make sure the ads are relevant and that they will not cause issues for the phones of users.
You can start a great mobile site on Shopify or WordPress, but you need an expert, like us, to put on the finishing touches. SEO Design Chicago has website development experts in who can assist you in creating an e-commerce website that benefits your business. Reach out to us today to learn more.
FAQ:
- How common is mobile e-commerce?
- Why does mobile e-commerce matter?
- What can you do to have a responsive website?
- Is mobile e-commerce or desktop e-commerce more popular?
- Why does loading speed matter?
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