On April 21st, Google rolled out changes to their mobile search in favor of responsive or mobile-friendly websites. This combined with the fact that mobile traffic has grown leaps and bounds over the past year, means a mobile-friendly site is a necessary asset to your company.
Responsive web design is the industry standard when it comes to designing a website. It is especially advantageous when compared to adaptive and mobile specific websites.
Mobile sites are impractical for a few reasons. Mobile visitors will be redirected to the mobile site after visiting the desktop version of the website. A mobile site separate from your website means extra development time. Updates will also require you to manage two different websites. Quite frequently, mobile sites are only created to be seen on smaller devices like phones, leaving tablets in the dark.
Adaptive web design gives the ability to style a website based on the size of the web browser. However, it is limited in use. Sites that have been developed to use adaptive web design have to be designed for every screen size. This includes one layout for phones, one for tablets and one for desktop. It’s impossible to target every screen size, resulting in a subpar experience for some users.
Here’s three reasons why it’s important to have a responsive website:
- Responsive web design is fluid in layout. In most cases, you’ll have a website that automatically adapts to match browser size, regardless of whether it’s on a desktop, tablet or phone. The transition between different browser sizes is smooth and elegant, resulting in a site that looks great on any device, regardless of screen size.
- Management of a responsive website is easy and practical. Any updates and changes only need to be made to one website. The content and images on your site will be adjusted automatically to fit the screen of any device, whether it’s a phone, tablet or your desktop computer.
- Google’s recent search engine changes have started ranking mobile-friendly websites higher on mobile search results. With almost half of the internet traffic coming from mobile devices like phones and tablets, you can’t afford to have your site bumped down in the Google results.
Contact us today if you need a new responsive website!