Robyn Rivera
Although fewer people own desktop computers or laptops these days, far more people are on the internet than ever before. That’s due, in large part, to the rise of smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices.
The fact that most of your website visitors will be on a mobile device means that you need a website that can meet their needs. And, these days, that means that you need a website with a responsive design.
A responsive design is one that adapts itself to the size of the screen it's being viewed one. Responsive websites will render differently depending on the device or screen size it’s being viewed on, giving users a unique experience by device, and maintaining the functionality and aesthetics of the website.
Having a responsive website is the first and most important step to building a mobile-friendly website. There are a lot of things that go into mobile-friendliness, but responsive design is absolutely critical.
With more mobile users than ever before, you need some way to reach them. You could do that with an app and/or with a mobile website. Or, you could keep it affordable and simple by having a responsive website that will work just as well on mobile as it will on desktop.
Let’s face it, most businesses don’t have an endless marketing budget, and the costs of building two different websites or a mobile app really add up. Having a single website that works for both mobile and desktop users is the much cheaper way to go.
When someone visits your website — regardless of what device they’re using — you want them to have a great experience. This means that you want them to be able to find the information they’re looking for, to click buttons in order to accept offers, to fill out forms, etc.
If your website isn’t responsive, chances are, it’s not providing that kind of experience to your mobile visitors. With a responsive design, you can ensure a consistent experience across every device.
Recognizing the increase in mobile traffic online, in 2015, Google released an update to its algorithm that made mobile-friendliness a critical ranking factor.
Google and other search engines want to provide users with the best experience and the best answers to their queries. And, since more and more of those users are searching on mobile devices, Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in the organic rankings.
A website — at least not a successful one — is not something you can set and forget. It’s a living, breathing thing that requires constant attention and maintenance. If you have a whole separate mobile site, or a separate mobile app, it’s also one more site to maintain.
With a responsive website, you’ll go back to just having one website to maintain. For businesses that don’t have internal marketing teams, maintaining one responsive website is more realistic than maintaining separate mobile and desktop versions.
When someone comes to your website and doesn’t visit any subsequent pages, it’s a bounce. How often this happens determines your bounce rate, and a high bounce rate, is often an indication that your visitors aren’t finding what they needed, didn’t have a good experience, or weren’t compelled to move forward.
While having a responsive design may not directly lead to more sales, it prevents mobile visitors from bouncing due to a negative user experience. This is huge, since most of your visitors will be mobile visitors.
Did you know that your average visitor has a shorter attention span than your average goldfish? When someone lands on your website, you have seconds to convince them that what you’re offering is worth sticking around for. If those precious seconds are wasted loading the website, you’ll lose more and more visitors.
Responsive websites tend to load faster, and that’s true of any device. Providing your visitors with a quick loading time provides them with a better experience. It also helps your standing in the organic rankings, as page speed — including mobile page speed — is a known ranking factor on Google.
If you have a separate mobile website than your primary desktop website, then you also have multiple URLs. That begs the question, which URL do you send your visitors to from Facebook, Google My Business, online directories and review sites, ads, Instagram, and everywhere else?
With a single URL, you won’t have to worry about sending mobile users to a website that performs poorly on mobile or desktop users to an awkward mobile website. You’ll send all of your visitors to a single URL that will provide a consistent experience across any device.
A lot of smaller businesses don’t have the resources to build a separate mobile site or app right away, and every moment that they’re not reaching those mobile users is a moment wasted.
If you’re in the process of building a business website, don’t sacrifice your mobile usability until you have the resource to build an app or a separate mobile website. Connect with your mobile customers right away by building a responsive website.
Not so long ago, a responsive website was something that was nice to have but not strictly necessary. But, with the continued growth of mobile search, a responsive design can be the difference between a business’s success and failure online.
Building a responsive website doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg, nor does it require working with an expensive designer. With the Websites 360® intuitive website builder, anyone can build a beautiful, responsive website.
Take the first step toward building a responsive website for your business. Pick your design template today!