What is a Responsive or Mobile-Friendly Website?
A responsive or mobile-friendly website is one that provides a different view on a smartphone or mobile device than on a desktop or laptop computer. A responsive website automatically adjusts itself to the size of the screen it appears on and on smartphones, provides a smartphone-optimized view of the web pages and navigation menus.
Why a responsive, mobile-friendly website is important
A responsive, mobile-friendly website is valuable for both website users and owners. Let's look at the reasons why a responsive website is beneficial for a user first.
For website visitors
For an Internet user, the layout of a desktop website often includes text and navigation that when viewed on a smartphone, are simply too small to be able to tap with a finger. As a user, you can't do much about this other than zooming in, which then hides information.
You might have run across some websites that aren't responsive and struggles with difficult to tap navigation links or viewed pages where the information doesn't fit on the screen of your smartphone. Nothing is more frustrating for a user than trying to see a website that runs off the edge of the page, with no easy way to correct the problem.
For website owners
For website owners, a responsive, mobile-friendly site can make a difference in how long a user stays on your site and how your pages appear in search engine rankings.
Because so many people now use their smartphones or tablets to access the Internet, it is important that websites be built with them in mind. Smartphone use, in particular, has grown s fast over the last several years that more people access the Internet using their smartphones than their desktops or laptops.
Google has paid attention to this change in smartphone usage and now ranks websites that are mobile “friendly” higher in search results compared to non-mobile friendly sites.
Web sites often get more traffic visiting them through mobile devices than from a computer. Whether you have an existing website, or you're working on a new one, you need to be sure that it's mobile-friendly.
For existing websites, do a Google search on your smartphone for your business name and when you see your site appear in the search results listing, look for the “Mobile-friendly” term that Google inserts in your listing as shown in the image below from my smartphone search for bobology.
Updating your website to mobile-friendly
If your site isn't listed as mobile-friendly by Google, you can ask your developer to update your site, or you can tackle the project yourself if you created it yourself. Older website tools may not have the capability to make your site responsive, but most modern website builder applications have this capability. You might need to change your design or template to make your site responsive and the amount of work to do this will depend on the software used to build your site.
Many website owners find that putting together a responsive design helps them see an increase in traffic to their site and the number of times users stay on the site since the site is easier to use on a smartphone. This ease-of-user translates not only into better rankings in search results but in better user experience for site visitors and the amount of time they spend on your site.
To my way of thinking
Smartphones have become the computer many people use most frequently because of their convenience, portability, and always-connected capability. Internet companies are adapting to this change in how people use technology and focusing on a mobile-first approach with webs sites that are both desktop and mobile-friendly.
With Google prioritizing mobile-friendly websites in search results and website visitors preferring a simpler mobile experience when accessing a site, both users and website owners are making mobile the direction for their Internet and web use.
Not a subscriber? Don't miss a single issue: