We have long maintained that a responsive website optimised for mobile phones is not a luxury, but a necessity for all businesses. Research backs us up. At the start of the year, we compared year-on-year figures and found that mobile phones are used to access the internet 70% more frequently than in 2015.
According to new research carried out for us by Stem/Mark, the choice of technology is influenced by gender, age and income.
Tablets are generally the least used – this is because fewer people own them, or they prefer to take a smaller phone rather than a tablet when travelling. The difference between smartphone usage by men and women is striking.
Generally, people use phones very frequently for entertainment. In the B2B segment, this percentage is lower, but even here it is worth taking smartphones into account: “Busy people are gradually getting used to working on their way to work, so they might use their mobiles to select suppliers or look for information and references on suppliers,” adds our Head of Development, Tomáš Odl.
Smartphones are no longer the preserve of young people
Naturally, younger people are quick to embrace technical innovations, but it is no longer true that older people do not use phones to browse the internet. According to our clients’ data, users aged 55 and over used mobile phones 120% more frequently in 2016 than in 2015.
Technology adoption is comparable regardless of income. It is no longer the case that people on lower incomes tend to use cheaper desktop computers or cannot afford smartphones.
The fact is that everyone needs a mobile-friendly website, whether they are targeting senior citizens, students or low-income groups.
Find out if your website is optimised for mobile devices. It is important to ensure that not only your website but also all your apps, calculators and forms are responsive.