81% of Americans now have a smartphone and they use it to go online to visit attorney websites, according to Pew Internet Research. "The way many people choose to go online is markedly different than in previous years," a new Pew research report found.

Only 73% of consumers have home broadband or wi-fi, meaning that they not using a big laptop or desktop screen to view attorney websites. Furthermore, "37% of Americans now go online mostly using a smartphone, and these devices are increasingly cited as a reason for not having a high-speed internet connection at home," Pew says. 

Add to this the fact that nearly 60 percent of searches are now made from mobile devices, according to Search Engine Land.

In the office, lawyers use their desktop computers more than any other device to go online. But it's quite different for potential new clients. 

What this means

• 
  For business development, this means that law firm marketing should be aimed at a smartphone's 3-inch screen, as opposed to a laptop, desktop or external display.
• Lawyers should critique their own sites on a cellphone. All buttons, pictures, and text should be easily viewable without zooming in.
• Attorney websites must be mobile-friendly. Essential elements include:
• Click to call button
• E-mail firm button
• Interactive map button
• Easy drop-down navigation
• Handy menu button

Consumers are using their cell phones to get directions, send and receive texts, read email, check the news, make phone calls and yes...visit lawyer websites. Accordingly, attorney websites should be mobile-friendly.

(All websites built by LawLytics are mobile-friendly and 100% desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone compatible.)

Consider the following statistics in a new Zenith worldwide report:

• The average amount of time people around the world spend accessing the mobile internet has risen to 1 hour and 10 minutes per day.
• Television viewing has fallen to 1 hour and 45 minutes of viewing each day in 2019. (Time spent on mobile devices is forecast to overtake TV in 2021.)
• Desktop internet use has fallen to 40 minutes per day
• The average time spent reading print newspapers has fallen to 11 minutes per day.
• Time spent reading magazines has fallen to only 4 minutes per day.

“Mobile internet technology has expanded both the amount of time people spend with media,” said Jonathan Barnard, Head of Forecasting at Zenith. “Media now means comparing prices on the high street, sharing jokes with friends and booking your next holiday, opening up new opportunities for brands to connect with consumers.”

These changes are in part due to the ascendance of the Millennial generation, which is the largest living generation with 80 million people. Millennials are digital natives who grew up with the internet always present in their lives. In contrast, Baby Boomers are now the #2 largest generation and they gather information quite differently: