“If your website is not Mobile Optimized you are losing a lot of visitors…” This is a selling point that many companies use. “Potential customers don’t want to pinch, zoom, and swipe to read your website on their mobile device.”
Though this is true, these claims which were once exaggerated to sell a service now don’t even begin fully portray the need for responsive / mobile optimization.
Nearly 50% of all web visitors are coming from a mobile device, meaning that individuals viewing websites from a mobile device is greater than those using laptops, greater than those using desktops, and almost equal to the combine usage of both desk and laptops. This does not mean that desktop or laptop computers are fading. The continues increasing use of mobile devices is simply due to one thing: convenience.
9 out of 10 adults in the United States own an internet enabled smart phone, 5 of those 9 have continues internet access. These devices don’t leave it’s owner’s side, regardless of what time it is, if such individual sees an ad promoting your business when they’re out, or decide to do ‘quick’ research on your business they will do it on their mobile device – this is almost always the case.
It should not be a surprise that such a high percent of web visitors browse the web using their mobile devices. If you don’t have a responsive/mobile design in place there is a huge crowd you’re not catering to, and since April 21th of 2015, if your website is not responsive you’re also not catering to search engines.
Responsive Design vs Mobile Optimization
So far you’ve seen me use “mobile optimized” and “responsive design” interchangeably – allow me to explain the difference. Mobile optimization is design optimized solely for smaller screen sizes, or mobile devices, yet does not account for screens slightly larger than mobile, tablets per say. This is the disadvantage to mobile websites, and at times mobile optimized websites – it features only a large screen and a small screen version of the website. For this reason you may see, or have seen websites with links to it’s various screen size options, the mobile, tablet, or desktop option.
Responsive design on the other hand is design engineered to respond to all screen sizes. It is one design that responds to all screens, hence the name ‘Responsive Design’. At My Website Created we utilize such technology and build our websites to service all devices regardless of screen size or resolution.
Responsive design/ Mobile optimization are no longer optional, let me rephrase – they are very optional, yet search engines continue to place greater importance on mobile optimized websites, so much so that responsive design is now standard. In terms of a website that performs well in search engines, mobile optimization is absolutely necessary.
Each website we build at My Website Created is automatically optimized for all viewing devices, including mobile.
Our responsive optimization services is executed by two methods. The first, a complete fresh website redesign which features a built in mobile optimized design. This first option is the most effective as it features a fresh and upgraded design which often leads to better conversions and sales.