Partner Article

Is a responsive website critical in 2014?

The number of people using the internet on mobile devices is set overtake desktop browsing this year and of the 36 million Internet users in the UK, 53% do so on their smart phones and tablets.

This is a very important statistic for all businesses large or small with any kind of website and makes having a site that works on all devices an absolute necessity, not the luxury or extra option it was once viewed as. In the past it was hotly debated if a site should be responsive or if it should have a separate mobile version.

Responsive websites adjust to fit screens of any size without being distorted. Websites that are designed for one particular screen size perform poorly when accessed on devices with different screen sizes because the design expands or contracts in the space. As a result, text and images are at the wrong scale, the user must zoom in and out constantly and functionality/navigation is difficult. Responsive design overcomes this limitation and makes a website universal in terms of adaptability to different devices.

While there are some relevant pro’s and cons on both sites of the dispute, the facts in favour of a responsive site overwhelm having a separate mobile site.

Let’s take a look at them…

Google Recommends Having a Responsive Website.

Thats right, the big G says yes. And if the big shiny digital god of the internet says yes then who are us fleshy mortals to argue?

No reason to not ask why though… So why?

Well, when you have a separate mobile version site it has a different url so you have 2 sites. When you have a responsive website you just have one site, and for Google thats better because it can sort your single content in it’s searches and not have to index multiple versions of sites. Google is big on content and one url is much easier for for people to share and link to.

Consider a mobile user sharing your content from a separate mobile website with a friend on any popular social platform such as Linkedin. When their friend tries to view the site from the shared link on a desktop device they will be taken to a stripped down mobile site, which will be a really bad and confusing user experience. Perhaps this has happened to you before and you’ve thought it was a bit of a ‘Weird Site’.

This isn’t just damaging to your brand but your SEO as Google now also places user experience as a ranking factor.

A Single Responsive Website on Multiple Devices.

With the ever varying changes in how we view the internet increasing It’s almost impossible to anticipate what size and shape screen your target audience is viewing on now, or will be in future. A site that works well regardless of the size and shape of the device is ‘Future-Proof’, probably until they invent beaming the net onto our eyelids.

Responsive websites are all about consistent user experience, it’s the same code and design arranging to the best scale for ease of use. Consistency is the key word here, imagine searching for a product on your phone at work, after finding an option you may then decide to choose to continue later when you get home. Only at home you’ll be using your desktop. If the site you found earlier on your mobile was responsive then when you view on your laptop later you’ll have a positive consistent brand experience. Alternatively if the site was a mobile version site and you have to find the product/page all over again on their main site, it may cause some frustration… or perhaps even the increasingly popular ‘internet rage’ syndrome. You know what it’s like, David Banner would certainly save money on ripped shirts if all sites where responsive…

SEO and Management are Easier

If you have separate desktop and mobile sites then you need different SEO strategies, which equals more marketing costs. Enough said, you would think, but apparently there is the argument that having a mobile site benefits optimising for mobile specific keywords.

This really doesn’t stand up in reality, as a responsive site can just as easily be optimised for mobile specific searches (such as ‘Mobile Ripped Shirt & Pants Repair Service’) and will be found and viewed perfectly on any mobile device. Placing content on 2 sites is also more work obviously, although some mobile sites do update via the same database to be fair, but rarely have the continuity of a responsive site.

So in conclusion: Don’t make your visitors angry (you won’t like them when they’re angry) and Google loves you (this we know, if you have a responsive website).

Interested to know what your site looks like on different modern mobile devices?

Feel free check your site on the EDOT3 ‘Responsinator’ tool for free;

http://edot3.co.uk/responsinator

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ian Shield .