What is a mobile site?
There are hundreds of devices each with their own screen size and shape:
- Widescreens
- desktops
- laptops
- mobile
- tablets
- phablets
- jiblets ( I made that one up)
- and more!
Many devices can also be landscape or portrait.
Does your website look good on a widescreen desktop AND a portrait mobile phone?
An image that works on desktop isn’t going to work on mobile. Font sizes that look fine on a phone in front of your face, is going to look tiny at the other end of a desk.
To look good on all devices, you need to adapt
- Images
- Font sizes
- buttons
- layout
- structure
That’s where mobile websites come in:
A mobile site is the version of the website that your user sees when visiting on a mobile device.
Why is responsive design linked to website success?
As users continue to view the web more and more on their mobiles and tablets, web designers must adapt to accommodate them.
Additionally, an increasing number of devices are available with many different screen sizes.
Your website has to come across well on each and every device so that your message, your clients, or your products aren’t turned away.
Web usage by device
Mobile Devices
53%
|
Tablet Devices
10%
|
Desktop Devices
37%
|
Mobile traffic has increased by 222% in the last 5 years!
This trend of mobile first only going to increase
The mobile revolution has already happened, you need to make sure your website is ready for mobile.
Responsive Websites optimized for Google
More than half of people are now viewing the web on a mobile device.
This means Samsungs, iPhones, Huawei, Sony, and even small tablets.
Google is responding strongly to this.
As of 2019, Google is using Mobile-First Indexing.
That means Google will look at how your site performs on mobile devices FIRST, then look at how it performs on desktop.
If you’re site isn’t responsive, Google aren’t going to like it.
For you, this means that you need to be thinking Mobile first.
Mobile site or mobile responsive website?
Responsive web design is a web design approach aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience across a wide range of devices. .
This means easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling.
They can react to various media and can be read clearly at any screen size.
Mobile sites
A mobile site is a different version of your site shown on mobile.
It sits alongside the standard website.
This means if you want to make changes, you need to make them to both sites.
The experience can be quite different on each site.
I would only use a mobile site for business which have an existing website which breaks down on mobile.
Responsive websites
On the other hand, Responsive websites adapt to whatever device, screen orientation and size the visitor uses.
The website is one seamless design which changes depending on the device you view it on.
This is why I would always recommend a responsive website when starting from scratch.
Mobile or responsive websites are no longer just a feature you tick off before launch.
I’m going to tell you why responsive websites are vital to the success of your business.
How does a responsive website benefit my business?
You already know a mobile responsive website will help you rank on Google.
But how else can a mobile site benefit your business?
Bigger audience
Search engines prefer responsive websites
So make sure you appear on Google mobile searches to reach the largest audience.
Increase conversions
There’s nothing worse than a button not working, or critical text being off-screen on your website.
When this happens your user will leave your site.
A responsive website means your visitors’ experience is seamless.
So they can find what they’re looking for, and convert to a customer.
Get in touch with Design Hero to get started with your responsive mobile friendly website!