Is your website mobile-friendly? It should be. In June 2016, eMarketer reported that over 72% of people who access the Internet will access on a mobile phone this year. This means that in addition to having a modern design to make your website look sharp on a desktop, you’ll need to have a design that looks good on mobile phones too. In addition, following “mobilegeddon” i.e. Google’s major announcement last year that the mobile-friendliness of a website would now form part of its key algorithm, it is perhaps a no-brainer to make your website accessible to users on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.
Enter, the “responsive web design.” What is it? To put it simply, responsive web design is a method of designing websites to “respond” by fitting into the device that’s being used to access them. It makes perfect sense too. A website that is programmed to fit a 21 inch computer monitor will not fit so well on your 4.7 inch phone screen. Therefore, a responsive design is the perfect solution.
Furthermore, responsive sites are smart enough to deliver content in a size and format that can be viewed perfectly on every single digital device including a desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. This means that the website will be user friendly and visually appeal to a wider range of users who otherwise would be put off browsing or indeed completing a purchase on the site.
With so many existing and potential customers accessing the Internet via their mobile devices, small business websites cannot afford to be anything but responsive. If you’ve already got a site and you’re not sure if it’s responsive, open up the browser on your phone and visit your site to see how it stacks up. If you observe improperly sized fonts, have trouble being able to tap certain buttons, or have to do excessive amounts of scrolling, your site may not be responsive.
Fortunately, there’s a good chance your provider has already developed a solution for this if you used hosted website builder tools to design your site originally. If you’re not sure, contact your support team to find out. However, if you worked with a developer to have a more advanced custom site designed, it is probably time to consult him or her to find out what options are available to you.
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