Lately we've been working on a concept for a mobile-first website design with some of our clients to create a new and improved mobile experience for homebuyers in 2016. We want to explain what a mobile-first design is, how it's different than a responsive design, and why you'll want to get one this year. First, let's take a second and remember Google's big push for mobile-responsive websites in early 2015. At the time, responsive design was the clear choice for upgrading your website, which likely either did not adjust on mobile devices or had a separate website that would display for mobile users. The cool thing about responsive design was that it used your whole site and just rearranged it for different screen sizes. This allowed Google to see mobile and desktop visits to your domain as a whole instead of counting them separately, which likely helped your SEO. Very quickly after Google's big announcement that it was going to reward mobile-friendly sites, we find out that when Google is crawling your site in its mobile form, the crawlers are only looking at the data of how people are using the site. We then started to see the bigger picture that Google doesn't just want a website to show up on a mobile device, Google wants a website to function in a way that really makes sense for the mobile user. Not every desktop design collapses into a perfect mobile version, especially on homebuilder sites which have the unique distinction of being something between a portfolio site and an e-commerce site. For instance, on desktop it makes sense to put the most actionable links in the main navigation--links like Contact Us, Available Homes, and Floor Plans. However, on a basic responsive design the top navigation is collapsed into what's called a "hamburger menu" in the right corner. On many builder sites, mobile users end up seeing the slideshow and a big block of text beneath. Our website collapsed into its mobile version. Note the hamburger menu in the top right.   What if instead the design for mobile was drastically altered so that the home page copy became condensed and new buttons appeared on-screen that provided the ability to quickly navigate to communities, homes, and plans? The mobile user's needs and expectations are much different than the desktop user's. Mobile users need to be able to navigate to your most important content in less clicks. They need the ability to swipe through your photo galleries rather than tap the screen to view the next photo. They need more screen real estate devoted to images than text. They need buttons to be larger so that they don't accidentally click the wrong result. There's no doubt providing a more seamless experience for homebuyers on mobile will improve your SEO, but that's not why you need a mobile-first site. Oftentimes your homebuyers are accessing your mobile site in line at the grocery store or at a coffee shop on their lunch break. They will spend a fraction of the time on your site that a desktop user does. You need to provide them a way to access as much content and information in that limited time as possible, and making your site easier to navigate on mobile will take care of that. You'll miss countless leads when mobile users are unable to access your communities, homes, and plans in a timely manner. With the twofold benefit of earning a higher Google ranking and making it easier for homebuyers to take action on your mobile site, it's well worth the investment in a separate website design for mobile users. If you're interested in a mobile-first design for your existing site or want to learn more about how you can incorporate mobile-first into your new website project, let us know!