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More and more consumers are moving between devices, with many of them even using two or more devices simultaneously. The ever-increasing popularity of mobile devices allows marketers newfound access to consumers along the path to purchase from brand awareness through conversion. In order to capitalize on the consumer’s multi-device usage, it is essential that a website have a responsive design that allows it to be viewed on mobile, tablet, and full-screen computers alike. Basically, this means that the website will present an optimized layout regardless of the device on which it is being loaded. A website’s workability can be limited when it has not been optimized to be viewed on a tablet or mobile phone, which can be a frustrating experience for users of these devices, and can cause them to abandon their search, leaving the marketer with one less customer.
The importance of responsive design versus simply creating a “mobile version” of a website is the fluidity that a responsive website provides the consumer. Someone might begin researching a product on their desktop at work, continue their search on their mobile phone while walking to their car, and then finalize their purchase on their tablet from the comfort of their couch at home. If a website is designed to be responsive, this process can happen seamlessly. Oftentimes, however, marketers create a “mobile version” of their website that minimizes the amount of information offered to fit the small screen of a mobile device. Or, a full site might not be fully navigable from a mobile phone. In either case, the consumer might become frustrated with the search and give up on the experience altogether.
Last Tuesday, to help eliminate these frustrations and to encourage marketers to update their websites and make them responsive, Google unleashed what many are referring to as “Mobilegeddon”. Essentially, Google began to implement several changes to its search algorithm, which will now favor responsive websites in mobile searches by giving them a boost in search results and by adding a “mobile friendly” label. But, although “Mobilegeddon” and its April 21st deadline have come and gone, don’t panic! It will likely take Google weeks to fully implement the changes to its algorithm, giving web developers a bit of a cushion to finish making sites fully responsive. Even websites that don’t earn the “mobile friendly” label before the algorithm takes effect—and whose mobile search rankings may dip as a result—will likely return to their usual ranking once they are deemed “mobile friendly” by Google.
To help web developers to determine whether their websites are, in fact, fully responsive, Google has created a Mobile Friendly Test Tool that allows users to simply copy and paste any URL for mobile friendly design analysis.
Having trouble formatting your website to be responsive? We can help! Reach out to us for assistance either developing a new website or redeveloping your present site to allow customers to view your content on any device and have the best user experience possible!