Responsive website as viewed on a desktop computer
There are, of course, many reasons why your website should be mobile friendly, but in my opinion there is only one reason why you need a mobile friendly website and why you should be worried if it is not.
If you do a Google search for “why do I need a mobile friendly website?” you’ll be presented with a list of websites that give “3 reasons why you must have a mobile friendly website,” “10 reasons to make your website mobile friendly,” “Five compelling reasons you need a mobile friendly website” and so on.
While all the reasons they give are valid, they all amount to the same thing.
If you do not have a mobile friendly website you are losing business!
The reason you’re losing business is mainly the result of two things caused by not having a responsive website:
- reduced Google ranking
- poor user experience
Responsive website as viewed on an iPad
If your website is not mobile friendly it will rank lower in a Google search when someone is looking for your product or service on a mobile phone. Why? Because Google penalizes websites that are not mobile friendly and ranks them lower than those that are. Instead of page 1, you could find yourself on page 2, 3 or 4 – worse still not at all.
If your website makes it to page 2 or 3 and someone does visit your website through a Google search, or via other means such as a newspaper ad, your business card or a link from your Facebook page, when they arrive at your website, if it’s not responsive they will not be happy. Why? Because the text size will be too small to read, navigation will be difficult and your website may even be too slow to load (due to large images/sliders). They will have a poor user experience which will make them unhappy.
Responsive website as viewed on an iPhone – slider images removed
Most people these days expect or want to have a good experience when they arrive at a website. Responsive websites look and function great on all devices, giving users a good experience when they visit. This will not only make them happy, but it will give your company credibility, make you more relevant and will improve your reputation. In addition, with improved readability and better navigation that come with responsive websites, your call to action will be more visible and easier to click, resulting in more visitors contacting you for your products and services.
By having a mobile friendly website, you therefore reach more customers through Google searches on mobile phones, it will look and function better and therefore leave your visitors feeling happy, believing in your product or service and wanting to do business with you. Since that is the ultimate goal of your website, the ONE reason why you need a mobile friendly website is so you do not lose business.
On this page, you will see three views of the same website: desktop view, iPad view and iPhone view. How does your website look on a mobile device?
If you don’t know if your website is mobile friendly, drop us a line with your web address and we’ll check for you. Look forward to hearing from you!
Note: There are a few ways to make a website mobile friendly. For me, the best way is by creating a responsive website, that is, one that adapts to different screen sizes. Responsive websites generally look and function great on all devices and only require one design which makes them cost effective both in the short term and the long term. You’ll therefore see me use the terms mobile friendly and responsive interchangeably in my post.
