Should You Care about making your website Mobile friendly?
If you have been dismissing remaking your website so that it is easier to use for mobile users, you may be costing your business online sales conversions. According to Google, mobile device shopping is predicted to increase approximately 17% in 2014 and that 76% of all smartphone owners will use their devices for shopping related searches.
We can only expect mobile usage to increase and that includes making purchases online in addition to researching topics. You can check out the Google article to see more about their holiday statistics but the main take-away is that your website needs to be mobile friendly.
Google Likes Mobile Friendly Websites
Having a mobile device friendly website is one of the ‘successful website’ factors that we discussed in a previous post and for good reason. Google rewards websites that are multi-device friendly and that also use a single URL for all devices. Meaning that you can access the same website for a multi-device experience without being redirected through a different URL.
If you are currently using a mirrored website or a redirect for your mobile site, you may want to allow all users to access your site from a single URL. Google announced in the past that sites that are accessible via a single URL on a mobile device are given preference to other sites which are not for mobile searches. Additionally, this allows for easier sharing on social media and for quicker load times since users are avoiding a redirect.
What is a Responsive Website and Do I Need One?
A responsive website is simply a website that automatically adjusts to whatever type of device it is being viewed on without redirecting the user. Google recommends that you use a responsive website design in order to offer the best possible mobile device experience and also rewards you for using this type of website design. Ultimately, this type of site will more than likely become the standard, especially because it is endorsed by Google.
Problems with Building Responsive Websites
Unfortunately, there are some problems with responsive websites that may make implementing your mobile device user experience in another way a better idea for your business. If your business website has been around for a long time and has a large amount of content, then recreating a responsive version of your site could be very tricky or just flat out difficult. Also, some businesses find that their mobile browsers tend to have different needs than a customer surfing from a desktop computer or tablet.
If this is the case, keep in mind that not all major brands even have a responsive website design. The best approach is to use analytics to determine how users are interacting with your site and what the needs for mobile device users are. If you discover that people seem to want to access your site through mobile devices, begin experimenting with mobile design and monitor your site while continuing to improve the user experience.
Overall, optimizing your website for ease-of-use and optimized user experience is the end goal. This is what is going to result in more online and offline sales for your business. It is important, however, to keep in mind Google’s preference for online search.
At YourDesignOnline, we are experts in optimizing your website for viewing across devices and platforms. If you have questions about how to make your site mobile device friendly, contact us today.
