Mobile Domination

Desktop VS Mobile

Desktops were originally the only way someone was able to access the internet, but that has since changed in a major way. Odds are, you have a little rectangle in your pocket, right next to you, or are even reading this on the box. That little piece of technology has been eating away at the desktop marketshare for years, and every year it takes a little more of the usage from it. On the website for my school, onwravens.net, there are analytics for what the desktop vs mobile usage is. From data taken in early 2013, just 3 years ago, desktops took up nearly 80% of total users, while mobile took about 15%. From data a little more than a month ago, however, mobile is now up to 40% while desktop is at 52%. So, in just 3 years,  mobile has almost become equal to desktop. Honestly, this trend is only going to grow from here, too. 

Bounce Rates?

People like to get info fast. This idea is where the bounce rate comes from. What is a bounce rate? Well, it is the percentage of users who leave your webpage while seeing only your home screen. Given the kind of website you have, that can either be a good or bad thing. 

However, what is interesting is looking at the bounce rate for each medium. On a desktop, the bounce rates sits around 40-45% between 2012 to 2016. On mobile, however, the bounce rate is dramatically higher, clocking in at at 55-60%, a 15% increase! Why is that, though? That's because people on times are generally more in a rush or want their information faster. Someone on a desktop (usually) has more time to explore a webpage, however someone on mobile (usually) is in more of a rush or doesn't want to take the time to go searching through the webpage. As a web designer, you must work accordingly and tailor your mobile websites in order to have people see more in less time while working with a smaller screen. Sounds tough, but it's the way people are viewing webpages more and more each year. 

What about the rest of the internet?

Of course you cannot look at just one website and say it is a trend. However, this trend has taken shape across the entire world wide web. Using an image from Online Marketing Trends, the further support the fact that mobile is the future of all media. We need to look at it from a standpoint of the future, and work as the people change.