Many websites today are still being designed and built with the assumption that most users will access the site from a desktop computer. However, since January of 2014 more people in the U.S. are using a smartphone or tablet to access the web than from a PC. (CNNMoney)
This is an extremely important development. Your website is likely to be your first point of contact with potential customers. You want their experience to be a good one.
According to Google’s Think Insights on Mobile:
- 50% of people said that even if they like a business, they will use them less often if the website isn’t mobile-friendly.
- 48% of users say they feel frustrated and annoyed when they get to a site that’s not mobile-friendly.
- 36% said they felt like they’ve wasted their time by visiting those sites.
- 52% of users said that a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company.
- 48% said that if a site didn’t work well on their smartphones, it made them feel like the company didn’t care about their business.
Sites built for desktop computers may still “work” on a mobile device, but the user experience is terrible.
What Does Mobile Responsive Look Like?
Sites that are not responsive look like a very tiny version of what you’d see on your PC. To read text on a site like this or to click on things requires zooming in and out, then scrolling left and right, moving the site around so you can see it all.
The best solution to this problem is to rebuild your site using responsive design. Responsive web design adjusts gracefully to fit the device that is being used to view it: desktop, tablet, smartphone or even a huge flat screen tv.
The best way to illustrate this concept is to show how the same site behaves on different devices when it is built to be responsive.
This is the website we built for a local realtor, Hillsdale Country Realty. On a desktop machine Homes For Sale are displayed in a grid.
Now look at the site as displayed on a small screen. Each Home For Sale stacks one on top of the other so that each entry is easy to see, read, and scroll through.
Mobile-responsive design allows your website to shift its layout to look its best regardless of the size of the screen that is being used. It provides an optimal view based on the device.
If you are interested in having a mobile responsive site built for your business or organization, give us a call at (518) 392-0846 or email us at [email protected].