Marketing

Improve Your Website by Making It Mobile-Friendly

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By Jennelle McGrath

3 min read

More people are viewing websites on smartphones than ever before, and not just consumers. You can't afford to have a business website that only works properly on a desktop computer.

Today’s internet users have come to expect a fluid experience when accessing a business website. Most visitors access a business website to accomplish a specific objective. They may want to get information, making a purchase, or browse around.

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As a business, you should improve your website design so visitors can find what they need and easily convert. But to maximize your conversion rate and optimize the user experience, improve your website by making it mobile-friendly.

Creating a website that functions on mobile devices is essential for today’s businesses. The number of people who own a smartphone recently surpassed the number of people who own a personal computer.

Mobile now represents 65% of digital media consumption time, which means a majority of online articles, videos, and interactive web spaces are being accessed through a mobile device. Additionally, over half of all Google searches happen on mobile rather than a desktop computer.

So, how do you go mobile-friendly? There are a few ways you can improve your business website for mobile viewing. Which method you choose will depend on the status of your website and the amount of time and effort you are willing to commit.

Create a Separate Version of Your Website

There are tools available which allow businesses to create two versions of the same website: one for desktop and one for mobile. If you are happy with the design of your current website, this may be a viable option. There are some pitfalls to creating a separate, mobile version of your site, however.

With a separate mobile website, you’d have two different websites to update should you want to make any changes. Updating a single website is a challenge for any team, especially if they intend to do a major facelift.

Use Plugins

Depending on what CMS you use, you may have access to plugins that can make your website mobile-friendly. These tools make it easy to implement mobile versions of features like shopping cart systems or blogs. You can also use these plugins to add additional features that are conducive to mobile-viewing. Plug-ins will be able to detect whether a visitor is accessing the site via mobile and then act accordingly.

Make Your Website Design Responsive to Mobile

To improve your website by making it mobile-friendly, design it for mobile from the start. If you intend to do a full overhaul of your website soon, this might be a good option.

Mobile responsive websites look appealing in both a desktop browser and on a mobile device. The added benefit is that, when designing your website, you’ll be forced to keep your design clean and efficient. Clean website designs aren’t just mobile-friendly, they lead to a more enjoyable user experience overall.

The world is going mobile. At the beginning of 2016, Pew Research reported that 72% of U.S. citizens own a smartphone, and that number has been climbing steadily over the past decade. As technology continues to get smaller, today’s smartphones will become the smartphones of yesterday. Even burner phones now give their users access to the internet.