Responsive design is the practice of optimizing your web application to display nicely across screens of various sizes. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, web design was fairly straightforward.  You simply built a site assuming that people would have small, relatively low-definition displays.

Today screens come in all sizes, and it’s no secret that mobile devices are quickly overtaking desktops as the primary way we connect to the Internet on a regular basis. Smartphones now make up nearly 72.6% of all mobile devices according to a CNBC article. With all those devices come an abundance of mobile searches and mobile impressions on your website.

Over 2 billion users are surfing the web via mobile.  In addition, the typical smartphone user today checks their device an average of 150 times per day.  That’s 150 opportunities for you to break through and convert a prospect to a customer!

With that in mind, Google needs to display search results in a way that will provide the best experience for the user.  If the user is searching on a mobile device, Google wants to provide a result that will work well on that user’s device.  Google, for some time now, has used “mobile friendliness” as a ranking factor in organic search.  With the growth in the use of mobile, Google needs to give more weight to sites that have been optimized for mobile and this is driving the change results presented to mobile users.

If you do not have a mobile or responsive site, you will find your business lower down on Google’s mobile search results.

What is a mobile-friendly website?

Whether or not a website is ‘Mobile-Friendly’ is determined by four key usability indicators:

  1. Avoiding software that is not common on mobile devices.  For example Flash.
  2. Uses text that is readable without the need to zoom
  3. Sizes content to the screen so users don’t have to scroll horizontally or zoom
  4. Ensures links are placed further apart so they are easy to tap

Lets Get Your Site Mobile Ready!

Need help determining if your site is mobile ready? JR Direct can help your businesses create sites that are mobile friendly. Reach out to us to talk with a consultant about your situation and what we can do to help. We’ll explore your situation and help you develop a strategy that will position your site to perform well on mobile devices.