Important Reasons Why You Should Optimize Your Website for Mobile

The arrival of mobile technology has changed the world in many ways, and continues to do so until today. Gadgets like smartphones, tablets and laptops have become indispensable tools, especially in modern societies that embrace technology as already part of their lifestyle.

From being mainly a communication device, mobile phones are now being used for a variety of purposes – gaming, music, photography, internet access and work. The convenience of having a single device does all of these, consequently, attracted more users. Because of the growing demand, smartphones now come in all forms, functions and sizes to suit any preference and budget. We can really expect that the mobile industry will continue to accelerate further from what it is today.

So how these advancements in mobile technology can help our businesses today? In 2014, a ComScore Whitepaper about mobile app usage revealed that mobile internet usage had already exceeded that of desktops. The impact of the internet to businesses is tremendous that many companies are investing for their online presence. The more internet access users, the more leads and potential customers for your business also. More so, if your website is mobile-optimized, the opportunities are almost endless. This is a strong testament on how web development has changed, and will continue to do so in the coming years.

Benefits of Responsive Web Design

The key to success in web engagement is user experience. Since now that mobile internet users surpassed the desktop, businesses are starting to “capture” this opportunity by optimizing their websites for mobile. Web developments such as responsive websites enhance user experience by making it seamless to load in different kinds of screens and mobile gadgets. Menus should be easily navigated and images are optimized for viewing. And with Google supports mobility, there is no more reason why businesses shouldn’t do the same.

How web development works? Responsive web design is a method of developing a website that is able to load seamlessly across multiple devices (desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone) without sacrificing quality both in visual experience and content. It includes optimizing layouts, menus, navigation, and multimedia design elements such as images, videos and animations automatically to fit a particular device screen.

So what are the benefits of having a responsive web design for your business or organization?

1. Everybody is now on mobile

A Smart Insights compilation of mobile marketing and behavior statistics revealed that 80 percent of internet users now have smartphones. Forty-eight percent of consumers start researching on their mobile phones using search engines.  This behavior poses some challenges when it comes to customer engagement. With so many options for devices to use when it comes to internet access, business websites must be easily accessed too across everything.

A responsive web design ensures that your customers’ web user experience is satisfying and seamless. It makes the website intuitive to use, which can increase the likelihood for more conversions due to many satisfied users.

2. Consistency with information across multiple devices

It also ensures that customers will see the same content, like with the desktop version, regardless of what device they use. This also provides continuity with the user experience, for example, a customer researched your company information on the desktop, then wanted to verify it again while mobile. When your website has a responsive design, users can view the same information elements regardless of what platform device you are using.

3. Cost efficient website implementation

Mobile-optimized design and responsive web design are actually different approaches when it comes to implementation. Depending on how you evaluate things (total cost, purpose, conversions), you can use the other one better, which also can give you the most cost efficient options. A mobile-optimized design requires you to make a separate website, designed for mobile device access only. On the other hand, a responsive design will ask you to re-design or completely overhaul your website to support it.

In most cases, the better adaptability and usability of a responsive web design wins in terms of cost. It also spares the business from maintaining two websites, which will also entail additional cost. By focusing on one website can help you manage it well and maximize its conversions and interactions regardless of device users.

4. It is SEO-friendly

With Google’s Mobilegeddon update, website owners get to be rewarded by optimizing its websites to being mobile-friendly. Alongside different web development trends, a responsive web design allows websites to adapt well on different devices to ensure a seamless experience all the time. This promotes Google’s advocacy about user friendliness and exceptional experience when it comes to both mobile and desktop internet access.

Being an SEO-friendly website not only translates to traffic, but also meaningful interactions with customers. This is a win-win situation for businesses, clients and search engines because it gets to promote mutually beneficial ways of serving information, products, as well as enhance web engagements. SEO unites the market in terms of providing information that is relevant, valuable and engaging.

5. High value conversions

Enhancing user experience is an indirect way of promoting a product or service online. By integrating a responsive web design as a part of e-commerce web development, you allow your website to target the emotions of users by understanding their intent through their interactions. This intelligent capability increases the likelihood of prolonged engagement, which you can capture for high value conversions.

Another aspect of conversion is by proving a seamless experience across different platform devices. This way, you sustain their interest regardless of what platform they use, and you maintain interaction until finally, you can get them to become customers.

6. Future scalability

Making your website responsive will “future-proof” it, meaning, it can scale up or down depending on how mobile and desktop platforms is going to be in the future. It gives you a good chance in supporting newer devices. As more people gain access to different mobile devices, the wider your prospect and customer base will grow too.

Make It Separate, or Optimize Access?

There are actually two ways to encourage mobile users to engage with your website – make a mobile-friendly version, or turn your website into web-responsive. So which of these would be your best choice?

First, let’s differentiate the two.

Mobile-optimized websites are separate from the desktop version, which is specially developed to fit on mobile screens. For it to deliver the efficiency, fast loading and viewing optimization that mobile users need to enhance user experience, some of the elements of the desktop version are purposely omitted, but the essential ones retained. There is also a different way menus are arranged, and fonts, color schemes and themes may be slightly different for a more optimized view.

Here are the advantages of having a mobile-optimized site:

1. Straightforward features for better usability in mobile devices.
2. Custom-fit for mobile users; with faster loading time, photos formatted for smaller screens, navigation more intuitive.
3. The user experience can be further enhanced by incorporating animations unique for mobile.
4. SEO-friendly.
5. An advantage for e-commerce sites, which is optimized to speed up shopping and payment processing.

Disadvantages of mobile-optimized sites:

1. Can be expensive to build because you have to basically start from scratch. The coding for mobile-optimized sites can be more difficult, thus would need expertise to fully achieve, especially that it should also follow SEO standards.

2. Challenging to manage two websites, wherein you might not give the right focus in monitoring and handling each unique traffic and conversions.

3. Would entail business tools with higher analytics and reporting capabilities to support data capturing and processing from mobile users.

On the other hand, a responsive web design is one that enables your website to “respond”, as the name implies, to the mobile device accessing it and adjust its compatibility and display for optimum viewing and better user experience. Most businesses prefer this method, because it enables them to use the same website elements from its desktop counterpart without sacrificing loading rate for mobile devices. But then, like with mobile-optimized sites, it has its own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of applying a responsive web design:

1. Can single-handedly support all internet-access devices, wherein it automatically adjusts its features and viewing capabilities to deliver the same exceptional user experience across everything.

2. Since there is only one website to maintain, management and upkeep are easier, and focus is achieved for maximized benefits.

3. Remains SEO friendly, which can be seen from the traffic it gathers.

4. Over time, responsive-designed websites can be more cost efficient because of less upkeep and upgrades in the future.

Disadvantages of responsive web design:

1. It may be difficult to redesign existing websites to turn into responsive, especially those that are older and may require an overhaul of the whole website.

2. Overhauling the whole website may be more expensive and tedious to do, so some opt to develop another website to fit the requirements. This requires another set of data to incorporate, thus slower to implement.

Choosing the best option would be upon the business’ nature, budget and goals. It is best to assess your direction, and know web development services to have a clearer idea on what is best to adapt for a better chance for success.

Do I Need to Get Website Development Services?

Absolutely yes! Website development services is a must when it comes to maximizing your website benefits. It not only establishes a brand identity, but it can nurture leads and traffic well to be more profitable for your business. Having the best website development services can also help you align your website with search engine optimization to increase traffic and conversions.

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