Despite its relatively short lifespan, the internet is already seeing its next big shift in the consumer market: mobile browsing. With 80% of internet users now owning a smartphone, it’s becoming more and more important for websites to support smaller screen sizes and more lightweight browsers.

This means that web developers need to start switching to what is known as a responsive website: a site that scales content based on the size of the browser window. This includes re-alignment of content, resizing of images, and collapsing navigation bars into a pop-out menu to maximize screen real estate. A lot of sites have already done this, but an often overlooked aspect is that visuals aren’t the only things that need to change – so does the functionality.

Most importantly, mobile users are not using a mouse to click on items, but using touch input instead. This means that certain features commonly used on websites such as pop-ups, drag-and-drop, and hovering are not positive experiences on mobile devices.

With this market shift, websites need to become more lightweight, simple, and quick in order to keep mobile users interested in their content and products. Failure to do so leads to higher bounce rates and for ecommerces, losses in sales. When the browser is the only thing taking up your screen, it’s more important to keep your visitors interested now than ever before. 

Sources:

http://www.globalwebindex.net/blog/80-of-internet-users-own-a-smartphone

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