From Recode:
Facebook makes almost all of its revenue through advertising, and 73 percent of that ad revenue in Q1 came from mobile, the highest such percentage Facebook has ever reported.
For a long time, Facebook has been trying to make the transition from desktop dependency to mobile. Many doubted they would be able to successfully turn the corner. Large tanker though they may be, Facebook has most definitely made the turn. They stand as one of the few examples of companies that have been able to do so. For this, they can enjoy some well-deserved plaudits.
What did they do right? More to the point, what will it take for others to follow? As mobile traffic increases, web design must change. If you hope to enjoy the benefits of the mobile revolution, here are 4 tips to help you reconsider your web design:
Rebuild with Mobile in Mind
The most radical, but quite possibly, most effective thing you can do is to start over from scratch. Rebuild your site from the ground, up, with mobile in mind. Sometimes, sites have to do this for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the reason is security. Sometimes it is web standards. Today, redesigning a site for mobile is an excellent reason to begin anew.
Before you create a website, be sure to find a web host that has the technology and features conducive to a mobile-first site. Not all hosts are created equally. Be sure you are dealing with one that is a complement to your mobile aspirations rather than a challenge to be overcome.
Use Mobile Devices to Interact with your Site
The industry term is “dogfooding”. It just means you ought to eat your own dog food. Or, to put it another way, you should practice what you preach. The people responsible for designing and selling the products ought to also be users of the products. Famously, the Hair Club for Men president was also a client.
If you want people to visit your site from mobile devices, you should also access your site from mobile devices. You need to experience the same things they experience. This will be the most valuable research you can do.
Limit Your Imagination to 4”
When you first envisioned your site, you probably had a large canvas in mind on which to paint that vision. After all, the average computer monitor has ballooned to between 20” and 27”. Many developers use duel monitors, effectively doubling that canvas. By the time they are done, the website looks brilliant on a Retina MacBook Pro. But it simply does not scale to the iPhone 5, 5C, and 5S: among the best-selling smartphones in the world. They all have 4” screens.
If your vision cannot fit on a 4” canvas, it is too big. You have to start reimagining your webpages in 4” frames. It is not enough to simply shrink a giant canvas so that it fits a small screen. The look and accessibility is all wrong. Think of your website as if it was a smartphone app. You will see an instant improvement.
Design for the Low End
The platform wars are fought in web forums by silly fanboys with the latest and greatest offerings from their champions. That does not come close to tracking with the real world. While it is true that the average selling price for an iPhone is over $650, off-contract, the average selling price of the biggest platform in the world: Android, is only around $250. A $250 smartphone doesn’t get you very far.
Windows Phone races even lower. Dominated by Microsoft handsets, new devices range anywhere from $50 - $150 off-contract. The higher-end phones simply don’t sell at volume. If you want your mobile numbers to increase, you have to design for low-end devices that can’t run Flash, and can’t handle the bloat of a desktop.
These are not the only things. Don’t forget to make your fonts larger, and your interactive points touchable. Space out your touch targets to eliminate accidental activations. You get the idea. Think mobile first, and your design will follow.