5 reasons to make your website mobile savvy

Responsive Web Design (RWD)

In simple terms, this is about how your website looks regardless of what device you may be using. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 40 inch cinema display or a 4 inch smart phone, the code and design of the site should adapt to give you the optimal viewing experience.

Here is what a static website would look like compared to a responsive website:

Reason 1: 70% of people shop online

According to Ofcom (Media regulatory umbrella body), over two thirds of people in the UK spend roughly two hours a day shopping online, mobile banking and checking their social media profiles. With 98% of the UK now able to access 4G, this surge is only going to increase. A responsive website is the only way to future proof your presence online and ensure that you are able to take advantage of the growing online business market.

Reason 2: The three second rule

According to Google, people are prepared to wait only 3 seconds for a website to load before they move on. If your website is static it is likely to take a long time to load on a smartphone or tablet and your customer is likely to then move to your competitor’s site.

The sign of a good website is if the user can find what they’re looking for with no more than three clicks.

Reason 3: Majority shop using mobile devices

As you can see from the Ofcom data graph below, 52% of all usage on the internet is via smartphone or tablet. This is data from 2014 and considering it was on an exponential curve three years, it’s likely to be significantly higher now. This makes it even more essential foryour website to be mobile responsive.

Reason 4: Google will love your website

In 2016 Google changed its algorithm to favour mobile friendly websites and decided to penalise sites that are static by ranking them lower on the search engine. Thus by having a responsive website, you organically get the best of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

Do not take a shortcut and design and build a website using WIX, because Google is not a fan. It performs poorly on search results and because WIX uses a form of Flash technology, your website will not rank well. WordPress template is the most favourable.

Reason 5: Lower the bounce rate

We all know the frustration of having to expand the screen, waiting for pages to load and then trying to figure out what the pending image may look like.Why put people through that? Having a smooth and easy User Interface where information has a hierarchy (more important text sized bigger) will ensure you can dictate where the user looks first and guide them through your website rather than leaving them lost. This will prevent the ‘bounce off the site’ behaviour users now resort to in order to find a less stressful website.

Try it out yourself!

Step 1:

Visit your website on your phone or tablet. How does it look? Can you navigate and find what you need with no more than 3 clicks? Can you get directions and contacts? How easy is it to buy or search for a product or service?

Step 2:

Log into your Google Analytics account, and see how much of your traffic is coming from mobile devices. If you don’t have Google Analytics, get your web developer to add it ASAP!

If you need help, just drop us an email or call us.

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