10 years ago – that is in 2009 – the touch-screen phone had not yet penetrated the market as it has today. Back in 2009, the mobile phone’s front design was like 70% keypad buttons and 30% screen-area. With such a relatively small screen-area, most mobile phones lacked the functionality to access the internet and the few models that allowed internet access did so quite minimally using a WAP browser. Browsing the internet in 2009 was mainly done on computers as the majority of websites were designed for desktop and laptop users – and those were the days when cyber cafes were in high demand mainly because most people were yet to acquire personal computers.
Fast forward to 2019 – the touch-screen phone is now the dominant model in the market, and browsing the internet via the mobile phone is just as efficient as browsing via a desktop computer if not better. Cyber cafes have evidently been affected by losing a significant fraction of browsing customers but they are not the only ones affected – websites that were designed for desktop and laptop viewers only have also been sidelined by the mobile takeover. On the other hand – websites that are optimally designed for desktops viewers as well as mobile viewers have continued to enjoy the best of both platforms. In the industry today, mobile-friendly websites are referred to as responsive-websites while websites that are not optimized for mobile phone navigation are referred to as non-responsive websites. When a website is non-responsive – it does not mean that it will not be accessible on mobile, it will still be accessible – but it will be oversize because it was designed to be viewed on a desktop screen which is several times larger than a mobile phone screen.
The main thing here is presentation in relation to size. A responsive website adapts to the mobile phone screen- size and is presented to the viewer in an easy to navigate layout. In conclusion, with the mobile phone taking over the internet – be sure to be on the side that will maximize on the benefits that are coming with the new internet order by ensuring your website is responsive. Do you have observations of your own to add to this subject? Please share them below in the comments to help empower each other. Was this article helpful? Please sign up to stay updated with our empowering conversations.