The world is looking at websites and online content from so many different places, in so many different ways, and using a number of devices to do so. The days of choosing desktop screen resolution and designing to fit a handful of sizes seemed like a huge deal at the time, but not anymore. Now we are facing dozens of screen sizes, resolutions and optimizations. Today's website designers have been required to step up their performance. With mobile devices and tablets selling like hotcakes, our job descriptions have evolved. We have many more responsibilities and added expectations, but even primal survival is based on adaptation and change, so we welcome these challenges. As creators of these new types of audiences and viewing formats, we all can collectively agree on the importance and see the relevance behind it. But what about our clients and consumers? Do they share the same opinion? Is having a mobile website and cross-platform optimization really that important? We have encountered a fair share of resistance in our experience here at Meenko Design. Clients are sometimes confusing "mobile website" with "app," or just plain and simply being content with having to pinch desktop designed websites in order to read content. As a designer, this will boil your blood. Here's some of the mind-boggling stats: -Over 1.2 billion people access the web from their mobile devices. -Global mobile traffic now accounts for 15% of all Internet traffic. -90% of people move between devices to accomplish a goal, whether that’s on smartphones, PCs, tablets or TV. -50% of mobile phone users use mobile as their primary Internet source. There was a time when 100% of your customers would come to your storefront location to purchase your product. Once people starting selling products online, the dynamic of selling goods and services was forever changed. E-Commerce continues to grow, making purchasing easier for consumers and ultimately better for business owners. But these change needs to be adopted and implemented. This includes the realization that smartphones and mobile users are slowly becoming the majority user and viewer of online information. -61% of people have a better opinion of brands when they offer a good mobile experience. -60% of mobile shoppers use their smartphones while in a store, and another 50% while on their way to a store. -Mobile-based searches make up one quarter of all searches. -41% of people have used a mobile device to browser for a product after seeing it in a show or advertisement. Not having a mobile optimized website is like closing a storefront location one day per week. You are blatantly ignoring your customers needs by doing so. As a business, would you ONLY accept cash as a payment method? Would you ONLY sell to specific races or genders? It would be counter-productive to narrow your clientele. So why ignore the substantial chunk of mobile traffic you are receiving? Client: "Well, they can just go to a computer and look at the site there. Or, just pinch their screens and zoom in to see the information! It's easy enough!" We live in a society of convenience. People are required to be spoon fed and pampered to make their lives as easy as possible and take the inconvenience out of purchasing your goods or services. Attention spans are dwindling. The younger generation finds boredom at a lightning fast rate. All of these factors must be kept in mind, and then ask yourself, "why are you making it harder on your visitor to navigate this website?" Client: "Can't you make the desktop version closer to a mobile version, so it looks normal on a computer but still reads well on a mobile device or tablet?" No one screen size has more than 20% of the market share. When you design for a computer, you are working with a landscape (wider than taller) screen where font sizes of 12-14 point can be easily read. Once you move to a mobile phone, you are suddenly working with a portrait shape (taller than wider) and none of your content will be legible without a microscope or the user pinching their screen to zoom into it. As for the images, every 100ms increase in load time decreases sales by 1%. That's a fact, not a sales pitch. So to answer your question... No, there is no one-size-fits-all solution here. We are glad to report that Social Media seems to have been widely accepted and used across a large percentage of businesses. That's great, really. It shows that the people on top of the chain are willing to make adjustments and add new positions and staff to their roster. So think about it. Where are people using Social Media from? How many Instagram users are on PCs uploading pictures? -48% of Facebook users access it from their mobile device. -60% of Twitter users access it from their mobile device. -30% of LinkedIn users access it from their mobile device. If you are pushing your Social Media on your clientele, chances are about 50/50 that if they respond to you, it will be via their mobile device. And then there's tablets! You know, the things that people "just use to play games on" and probably don't use very often...... -Almost half a billion tablets will ship in 2013 and 2014 alone. -Tablet users spend 50% more than PC users. -72% of tablet owners purchase online from their tablets each week. -Tablet users are more than 3x more likely to purchase than smartphone visitors. Cha-ching. If you get a visitor from a tablet, they are probably ready to spend some money. When a customer walks into your store with a pocket full of cash, and is dying to hand over that cash to you, how do you greet them? Is it something along the lines of: "Well, this is what we've got. I know it's not very organized, but look around at the impossible to read signs and text, and if you have any trouble, good luck finding out where I'm hiding!" That's exactly what you're saying to your tablet-using customer when they pull up your one-size-fits-all website. Website optimization and cross-plaform compatibility is not an up-sell. The issue with pricing is due to the fact that your designer must now spend 2-3 times the amount of time that they would normally spend on your desktop website to ensure that all aspects of your business are covered. Your customers can walk into any door, and optimization ensures that they will be greeted with the absolute best display, appearance, design and showcase of your business as possible. Optimization is not a "feature" to add; it's a necessity.