The Changing Landscape of Responsive Web Design
Sara Abbott – Business Development
It’s no secret that updating your website can be a big commitment. You have to find the right agency, strategize what you want your site to do and invest in building the story on digital. But, it’s worth it. Especially now.
Google has long been cracking down on the importance of mobile-friendly websites. In April of 2015, Google said, “We will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact on our search results.” This announcement has drastically impacted the ranking of search results for various websites. In order to make sure your company is up to date, Google released these guidelines to ensure that your website will keep or improve its standing.”
While that was big, it got bigger last month when Google adopted the mobile-first indexing. Basically, Google uses a bot to crawl websites so each user is directed to the best website for their search. With mobile-first indexing, Google will mainly rank mobile responsive websites, leaving desktop sites in the dust.
So let’s get down to the basics. How can I tell if my website is mobile responsive?
If a website is friendly for mobile users, the layout and design of the website should have an optimal viewing for all devices. The elements like picture and text of the website should have the capability to adjust across the screens of mobile devices and PC monitors. To test your website, use this link from Google.
Responsive web design (RWD) is a way of laying-out and coding a website that creates an easy and interactive way for the website’s visitor to view the website via any mobile device. It keeps the message of the website consistent, regardless if someone is viewing it on a PC or smartphone.
Besides moving up in Google Searches, creating a mobile-friendly website will help your website meet its goal. Accommodating to your mobile audience can help you increase conversion rates from your website (friendly reminder, conversion rates are the number of visitors that complete a purchase or complete the desired task of the website). Google reports that sites that are mobile responsive have an increased their conversion rate by 51 percent. This means more happy customers for you.
But to get there, often times, unless you’ve taken classes in web design, you should hire a web designer as an investment. Look for someone who understands the ins and outs of designing a mobile responsive website. As it’s easy to make mistakes.
One common one is creating a site that looks great on a mobile device, but it is complicated to use. Visitors are looking for a website that will help them get the desired result. While creating an aesthetically pleasing mobile website is valuable, keep in mind, the functionality of the website still needs to be simple and easy for the visitor to navigate.
Bottom line: with the use of tablets and smartphones, people practically walk around with computers in their pockets. This makes Google see mobile responsive websites as a necessity and no longer, just an added bonus. So, invest in your site, do yourself a favor and make the switch, and hey, call your friends at Evol if you need help.