Why Your Site Needs to be Mobile-friendly

Browsing the internet only on your computer is a thing of the past. More and more internet users are now logging on to the internet with the small screen in their hands. With more of your potential customers using their smartphone to find you, will they like what they see?

What makes a website mobile friendly?

You’ve probably had the experience – you’re browsing the internet on your phone and you click a link. But when it pops up, the print is so tiny you can’t read it. Sound familiar? Having a website that’s mobile-friendly means that visitors to your site will never have to deal with that headache.

Mobile-friendly sites have been specifically optimized for smartphones and tablets. In other words, the website reformats itself when it recognizes the visitor is on a mobile device so that it’s easier to view and navigate. That means bye-bye to having to zoom all the way in to figure out what page you’re on.

Why is a mobile friendly website important?

Check your pocket. Have your cell phone with you? Chances are your potential customers do too. Almost 80% of Americans have smartphones and a growing amount of those people use their smartphone as a sole means of getting online. That means that some of your customers might only ever see your website via their smartphone – will they want to visit it again?

Google is also rewarding websites with a higher search ranking if they are mobile friendly. Google is all about improving the user experience and a great mobile experience is a big part of that. What does that actually mean? It means that if your site isn’t optimized for mobile, your potential customers may never see it when searching on their smartphones. Bonus point if your site is secured with HTTPS. 

So here’s what you can do about it:

First, check to see if your site is mobile-friendly. You can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. Copy the url to your site, plug it in, and Google will tell you whether or not your site is mobile-friendly. Easy as that.

If it turns out that your site is not mobile-friendly, don’t fret – there are lots of ways to fix that. Many templates that you might find on DIY platforms will come mobile-friendly ready – they’re called a responsive templates. However, using a responsive template doesn’t necessarily mean that your desktop site will seamlessly transition to its mobile counterpart. Occasionally, issues with formatting can arise. If this is what you’re using, be sure to check on what the mobile site looks like as you’re working, so that you can address any issues as they pop-up.

Sound like a lot of work? Shoot us an email and we’ll be happy to have a look for you, free of charge. Our team specializes in building mobile friendly-websites that deliver a great experience for your customers. Once your new site is built, we can talk about digital marketing and methods to keep your phone ringing.