Mobile First Design for Birmingham Businesses: Why It Matters (and How to Do It Right)
/ Table of contents
- Mobile First Design
- What Is Mobile First?
- What Is the Mobile First Approach in Web Design?
- What Is the Opposite of Mobile First Design?
- What Is the Difference Between Mobile First and Desktop-First Design?
- Does Google Prioritise Mobile First Indexing?
- Should You Design for Mobile First?
- Why Do I Rank Differently on Google When I Use Desktop or Mobile?
- Mobile First Design Examples
- How to Create a Mobile First Design
- What Are the Disadvantages of Mobile First Design?
- Is It Better to Build a Website or an App?
- Final Thoughts: Mobile First Is a Business Decision
Mobile First Design
“Mobile-first design isn’t about making desktop smaller – it’s about starting with clarity and building outward.”
– Jordan Thompson, KIJO’s Co-Founder
Mobile-first design is now the baseline of good website design. For Birmingham businesses especially, where local users in a busy and vibrant city are constantly moving between phones, public transport, offices and home working, the mobile experience is often the experience.
Yet many websites in the area are still designed desktop-first, then “shrunk down” for mobile. The result? Slow load times, clunky navigation, unreadable content and frustrated users who bounce before they ever convert. And when 57% of users say that they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site, that’s not good for business!
This guide from the KIJO team breaks down what mobile first design actually means, why it really does matter, and how to approach it properly.
What Is Mobile First?
Mobile first means designing your website for the smallest screen first. Then, scaling up for larger devices like tablets and desktops.
Instead of asking “How does this look on mobile?”, mobile-first design asks:
“How does this work on mobile, and how can we enhance it for larger screens?”
This shift in thinking forces clarity. On mobile, there’s less space, less patience and less margin for confusion. If something isn’t essential, it can’t be included.
What Is the Mobile First Approach in Web Design?
Mobile first approach is a design and development methodology where mobile constraints shape the entire user experience (UX).
Designers and marketers start by prioritising:
- Core content and messaging
- Primary user actions
- Speed and performance
- Ease of navigation with thumbs, not cursors
Once the mobile experience is solid, additional features, layouts and enhancements are layered in for desktop users. This results in websites that feel focused, fast and intentional.
Related Read: Master UX Best Practices: 16 Proven Tips for Exceptional Website Design
What Is the Opposite of Mobile First Design?
The opposite of mobile first design is desktop-first design – designing for large screens first and adapting later.
Whilst this approach still exists, it’s becoming increasingly misaligned with how people actually browse the web. Desktop-first sites can work in very specific contexts, but for most public-facing websites, they introduce unnecessary friction.
What Is the Difference Between Mobile First and Desktop-First Design?
The difference between mobile first design and desktop-first design is that desktop-first design starts with a large screen and then attempts to compress that experience for smaller devices. However, this often leads to an overcrowded mobile layout, hidden/awkward navigation, secondary content dominating the experience and performance issues.
Mobile-first design does the opposite. It begins with the essentials and builds outward.
The difference isn’t just visual; it’s strategic. Mobile-first design prioritises decision-making, clarity and user intent, whereas desktop-first design often prioritises aesthetics and internal preferences.
Related Read: The Future of UX Design: Trends to Watch For 2030 and Beyond
Does Google Prioritise Mobile First Indexing?
Yes, Google prioritises mobile first indexing. It has since September 2020. This means Google primarily looks at the mobile version of your website when deciding how to rank it in search results.
If your mobile site loads slowly, hides important content, has poor usability or differs significantly from your desktop site, it can negatively impact your rankings. Yes, even if the desktop site is great!
For marketing teams, this means mobile design is not just a UX concern. It’s actually a really important visibility and acquisition issue.
Should You Design for Mobile First?
Yes, you should design for mobile first. Not only because Google prioritises mobile first indexing, mobile traffic now accounts for the majority of web usage across all industries. In mid 2025, mobile devices (excluding tablets) accounted for 62.54% of global website traffic. Even in B2B, users often first discover brands on their phones before returning on desktop later.
Designing mobile first helps ensure:
- Faster load times
- Clearer messaging
- Better engagement
- Higher conversion rates (70% of users abandon their cart in the middle of the checkout process because of a clunky mobile experience!)
- Stronger SEO performance
More importantly, it aligns your website with real user behaviour over internal assumptions.
Related Read: A Practical Guide to On Page SEO Services
Why Do I Rank Differently on Google When I Use Desktop or Mobile?
It’s common to see different rankings depending on whether you search on mobile or desktop.
This happens because:
- Google serves results based on device context
- Mobile user intent often differs from desktop intent
- Page experience signals (speed, usability) vary by device
- Location and behaviour patterns influence results more heavily on mobile
If your mobile experience is weaker than your desktop one, that discrepancy can show up directly in your performance metrics which is why you may have noticed different rankings across devices.
Mobile First Design Examples
Good mobile-first design doesn’t mean it has to look “simple”, but it does have to be clear and considered.
Strong mobile first design examples usually share these traits:
- Clear, scroll-friendly layouts
- Prominent primary CTAs
- Minimal but purposeful navigation
- Fast-loading pages with optimised images
- Content written for scanning, not reading essays
The best examples feel effortless on mobile and expansive on desktop. Some of the clearest specific examples of mobile-first design come from brands whose success depends on removing friction on small screens.
Airbnb, Exotics Care Online, and Etsy are two strong, real-world examples of this approach in action.
Etsy
Etsy’s mobile site is another strong example of mobile first thinking, particularly for eCommerce. The design focuses on effortless browsing. There’s clear categorisation and seamless transitions between discovery and purchase and the product pages focus on imagery which contributes to the exceptional browsing experience.
Importantly, Etsy’s mobile experience doesn’t feel like a cut-down version of desktop; it feels purpose-built for mobile behaviour.
Airbnb
Airbnb’s mobile website is designed around how people actually use their phones: quickly, often on the move, and with a clear intent. The interface hosts large tap-friendly elements, minimal navigation layers and strong visual hierarchy. Key actions like browsing listings, checking availability and saving favourites are always within easy reach, whilst secondary information is revealed progressively rather than all at once. The result is a mobile experience that feels calm, intuitive and fast, even when handling complex tasks like booking accommodation.
Exotics Care Online – A KIJO Design
If you’re a pet owner and have a question about your pet’s health or care, the first thing you’re going to reach for is your phone. That’s why when we designed Exotics Care Online – a televet service for exotic pets – it had to be designed mobile-first; it was essential for the target user. On the mobile design, there are clear, thumb-friendly CTA buttons at every interval, all elements (including images) are appropriately sized/readable for the screen, and the site loads in under a second.
All of these sites offer a mutual, virtually identical experience on their desktop sites which is brilliant for both UX and brand cohesiveness.
How to Create a Mobile First Design
Creating a mobile-first website is as much about mindset as it is about execution.
Start by identifying the single most important action you want users to take when they land on your site on mobile. That action should be obvious, accessible and supported throughout the entire experience.
From there:
- Write content for small screens first
- Design navigation for thumbs (not mice!)
- Keep forms short
- Prioritise speed over decoration
- Use progressive enhancement for larger screens
Of course, working with an experienced Birmingham based web design agency to optimise your business’s mobile online offering is the most convenient and accurate way to go.
Related Read: KIJO’s Ultimate Guide to Web Design and Creation
What Are the Disadvantages of Mobile First Design?
It can sometimes feel restrictive for brands that want to showcase lots of information or complex features. Stakeholders may worry that content is being “cut”, rather than refined.
There’s also a planning overhead – mobile-first design requires stronger content prioritisation and clearer strategy upfront.
But, in practice, these perceived “disadvantages” often result in better outcomes, not worse ones.
Related Read: How To Develop & Master Your Key Messages (With Examples)
Is It Better to Build a Website or an App?
This comes up a lot when discussing mobile experiences. For most businesses, a mobile-first website is the better starting point. Websites are easier to access, cheaper to maintain, easier to update and far more discoverable through search.
Apps make sense when:
- You need regular repeat usage
- Functionality is complex or personalised
- Offline access is required
- There’s a clear reason to ask users to download something
Final Thoughts: Mobile First Is a Business Decision
Mobile-first design is about meeting users where they are. And yes, nowadays they’re on their phones.
For Birmingham marketing teams, the takeaway is simple: if your website doesn’t work brilliantly on mobile, it’s probably not working at all. Designing mobile first forces clarity, improves performance and supports everything from SEO to conversion.Done well, it creates websites that feel modern, intuitive and genuinely useful – not just visually impressive. If you’re interested in learning more about how an experienced web design agency team can help you optimise your mobile-first website, get in touch.
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