Right now, your phone is in the same room where you are.

The statement above is most likely accurate. We have developed a heavy dependence on our phones, and treating these devices as an extension of ourselves. Apart from being great memory banks, our phones also give us access to possibilities we never would have even imagined two decades ago.

Almost everyone owns a smartphone now. In 2019 alone, 1.52 billion smartphones were sold worldwide; making 19% of the world's total population smart device owners. This figure is also expected to grow as phones become more affordable.

In the USA alone, 96% of Americans own a cellphone, in which 81% are smartphone users. Only 4% of the population does not own any kind of cellphone device.

But the phones we have now are only a fraction of the size and weight of its predecessors. Here's a brief history of the device you own.

In 1973, Martin Cooper, an executive from Motorola made the first wireless call to an engineer from its then competing brand. The phone used for the call weighed 2.4 pounds.

Year 1983, A decade after the call, Motorola released a $4000 phone to the public. To put things into perspective, the value of $4000 back then would equate to $10,500 in 2020. The phone was still bulky and weighed 28 ounces that even it earned itself the nickname "The Brick" from the creators themselves.

During the 2000s, Nokia entered the scene with their legendary keypad phones. You probably owned one. Back then, this Finnish company had a bigger annual budget than their national government. Nokia revolutionized the cellphone industry with their user-friendly phones. They also sold one of the first camera phones with their iconic Nokia 7650. Also, during this time, cellphones with interactive screens were also gaining popularity. These are the early origins of the smart devices we have now.

In 2007, while Blackberry still dominates the market with their unforgettable QWERTY keyboards, the very first iPhone entered the scene and sold a whopping 6.1 million units.

In 2010, Siri, a then independent company, released their voice assistant app in the Apple store alongside with thousands of other apps. A few months later, Apple acquired Siri for $200 million. Apple then introduced the iPhone 4s which had Siri as a built-in feature. It sold more than 4 million units over one weekend.

Now, the continued innovations in the mobile industry brought us fingerprint scanning and 5g network connection. And we know that the developers are already brewing the next big milestone of the device we hold in our hands.

This great shift in technology brought accessibility to greater heights. These devices are indeed so smart that they have redefined our concepts of communication and gratification. This is a promising opportunity for your brand to grow exponentially through proper branding and marketing in the mobile-web industry.

Take Advantage

The mobile industry is shaping up to be a new horizon of opportunities for consumers and businesses alike. We have listed the biggest reasons you should be gearing your website up for mobile users.

Phones Have A Massive Reach

It goes without saying that phones are more affordable than computers. This is why more people own a phone (or two) than computers. In the US, more people prefer to stay in the know using their phones than any other device. In fact, a 2019 study concluded that Americans favor getting news with their phones over their desktops or laptops.

Phones are Convenient

Any chance people get to avail of services using their phones, they will grab. The boom of online shops is an evidence to this. People like to do business transactions while on their daily commute because sometimes, it's only the window of opportunity they have.

Phones are Addictive

As times goes by, it gets more and more difficult to put your phone down once you hold it up, especially with push notifications buzzing your attention back to the screen in your hands. This attention is precious in the digital age, and if your website is designed right, you are guaranteed to keep that attention. Crafting push notifications that add value to your brand and consumers is detrimental in this process.

Phones Carry Relationships

Social media usage is at an all-time high, and most people scroll through their social media accounts with their phones than any other device. This is an opportunity for you to build a healthy and long-term relationship with your consumers. Through social media, you can engage with your market and get organic feedback. Instead of only being a brand that exists, you can be a brand that is present. You can ride or even set trends.

Thinking back, design trends now are far different from a decade ago. In the late 2000s, the bestselling phones were competing to be as small as possible. Now, phones are getting bigger that some of the new models are not designed to be used with a single hand; but along this increase in size came increased capability. This development led to a new web design trend which aims to create mobile-friendly web pages.

Mobile-First Web Design

Mobile-first web design is a design style wherein all possible issues a mobile user may encounter will be taken into account. Phones normally have 2x3.5-inch screens, so a smaller screen needs more legible texts. Apart from readability, designers also consider the size of the thumb, the keyboard that pops out, and other similar factors. Here are some advantages of mobile-first web design.

Speed

85% of mobile users assume that web pages on their phones load as fast or faster than on their desktops. This means that any website that does not meet this expectation instantly bids farewell from their mobile screens. In fact, a delay of a single second can cause a reduction of your page views by 11%, a decrease in conversion by 7%, and a 16% decline in customer satisfaction.

Mobile-first web design aims to design a page that would load literally within a blink of an eye. This may then result to better SEO performance, higher conversion rates, and satisfied customers.

Flow

Given that phones have relatively small screens, information that appears on the page must be prioritized well in order to achieve great flow on the users' end. Mobile-first web design ensures that your website can be skimmed and scanned by people on the go. Copies and content must be wisely divided in order to be more easily understood.

Integration

Through mobile-first web design, you can take advantage of the phone features that are already there. For example, your 'Contact Us' button can automatically lead to the call via sim option. You can also integrate your website to instantly identify the user's location through the phone's GPS. You can also take advantage of the phone's speech-to-text capability; all of these to improve the users' experience and drive up their satisfaction.

Despite the fast-changing technology, we all know that phones are here to stay. Whether you are growing your business or grooming your online identity, you need a great mobile web design. We got your back.

AllthingsWWW will help you step by step towards reaching your internet goals. Send us a message at [email protected] to know more.