The Importance of Mobile Friendly Websites

How important are mobile-friendly websites? In today’s market, crucial. The amount of visitors using mobile devices to view websites or search the internet is constantly increasing. According to Emarketer in 2016 “… nearly one in 10 US internet users (11.7%) will go online exclusively through a mobile device,” and that number is expected to rise.

This means that if you want your business to be viewed, especially in service industries such as restaurants and hair salons, then you need to have a mobile-friendly website or risk losing customers.

On April 21^st, 2015 Google changed the way its search engine ranks websites.

Websites that Google considers to be mobile-friendly are ranked higher than those that aren’t. This means that if your site isn’t mobile-friendly, it’s being penalized, and indicates the importance Google has placed on this characteristic. 

So what is a mobile-friendly website?

It’s a website that is enhanced for mobile visitors. It’s displayed within the size of the mobile device’s screen, the font size is readable, and no scrolling or zooming is required. The menu is easily accessible and readable, making navigation simple. Large images aren’t used nor are plugins such as Flash as they can increase the website’s load time or make it unusable.

A mobile friendly website should provide a user with the functionality and design equivalent to that of a desktop experience.

How to check if your website is mobile friendly?

1. The first way would be to view it on a mobile device (phone/ tablet) and determine if it appears as your desktop version does, and follows the guidelines mentioned above.
2. Enter your url on Google’s mobile-friendly test tool.

You’ll see the result within a minute and they’ll tell you if your website is or isn’t mobile-friendly. In the event it isn’t a brief explanation will be provided.  

What should you do if it isn’t mobile-friendly?

Contact your web designer and ask them what needs to be done to make your website mobile-friendly. Our company offers custom solutions to upgrade or even completely re-design your website to mobile-friendly solutions. The technology we offer includes custom designs for different mobile devices, meaning you can have different content for tablets and different for cellphones or for desktops etc. 

In general, the mobile market grows more and more each day, and regardless of the necessity of being Google compatible, it's important for any business owner to understand why you don't want a negative user experience of any visitor to your non-mobile-friendly website.