If you don’t have a mobile responsive website yet, you have probably noticed a drop in your Search Engine Optimization. Because people are using their Smartphone’s for just about everything these days, your website must be friendly, as Google will penalize businesses rewarding them with a lower ranking.
Google is all about the user, and if potential clients and customers have to pinch the screen to get a closer look, they will go elsewhere.
If you follow the Knoxweb Blog, you will know that a new algorithm was built and implemented into the system back in 2015. When it became official in April of that same year, Google started giving mobile responsive websites a leg up on the competition. So what does that mean now?
According to Knoxweb, websites that are not mobile responsive are getting buried in the back pages of Google. You may think your website is mobile responsive, but if you have a landing page that takes the user to your desktop website, you are not mobile friendly.
Knoxweb explains that there has been some confusion between a mobile friendly website and a mobile responsive website. Some of the misconceptions that are encountered when it comes to mobile-friendly websites and mobile responsive websites are:
- Only mobile responsive websites will work on a mobile device
- Every website has to be mobile responsive
- All mobile friendly websites are responsive
So what is the difference between a mobile friendly and a mobile responsive website?
Responsive Web Design
According to Knoxweb, a mobile responsive website changes or responds based on the user and the devices needs. Images that are not necessary are hidden so that the user can find important information on the smaller display of the mobile responsive website. If the menu, images and text get smaller, your site is mobile responsive.
Some of the key features of a responsive website are:
- Condensed navigation
- Constantly changing dynamic content
- Images that are optimized
- Spacing and padding
- Needs a mobile device to operate properly
Mobile Friendly Website
A mobile friendly website is designed so that it will work across all devices. In simple terms that means that nothing is unusable on a mobile device or on a desktop computer. Navigation using drop down menus are limited as they are hard to use on a mobile device. With a mobile friendly website, there is no Flash animation. A mobile friendly website is the same on all devices whether you are working on a laptop, tablet, PC or a Smartphone.
The Key Features of a Mobile Friendly website include:
- Unchanging static content
- Smaller image display
- Simple navigation
- Does not need a mobile operating system in order to work properly
So how do you know what type of mobile website is right for your business or organization?
Mobile Responsive
Because users are getting a more customized experience with a mobile responsive website designed by Knoxweb, it requires a somewhat bigger budget, proper planning, and expertise.
You should think about a responsive website if:
- 35 percent or more of your website traffic is mobile
- You have complex features or site content that is hard to use on mobile devices
- You want to look modern and up to date for a longer period
Mobile Friendly
Your users can have a consistent web experience across every device with a mobile friendly website. Although there may not be as many functions, they will work.
You may want to go mobile friendly if:
- Less than 35 percent of your users are mobile
- Your site is simple with text and images
- Does not have a complex functionality
- You have smaller images that load fast over mobile connections
If you are considering a mobile friendly or mobile responsive website, call or click and schedule a no obligation consultation with the team from Knoxweb who can help you decide what option is best for your business or organization.
