7 Reasons Why Your Website Should Be Responsive
Posted on 20th March 2017
A fully responsive website is one that automatically adapts to the size of the screen it is being viewed on, meaning the content is as easy to read on a mobile or tablet as it is on a desktop or laptop.
It is estimated that between 70% and 80% of websites are still non-responsive. If yours is in that 70-80%, read on to find why you should go responsive.
A non-responsive website could affect how many people find your website. Google has started to roll out mobile-first indexing, meaning that it will now prioritise mobile content over desktop content. This also means that it’s no longer enough to have a separate mobile website, as these typically have reduced content, making it harder for Google to find relevant material to answer search queries, resulting in a lower search ranking.
A responsive website will be easier to view from a mobile. With over 60% of web browsing now carried out on smartphones and tablets, it is essential that your website is fully responsive. Mobile use is only going to increase, and people won’t stay on your site if it is not optimised for mobile devices. They will quickly get frustrated with how difficult the text is to read, whilst visual content will have very little impact, and if you have a contact form that you expect people to complete, forget it!
Online shopping from smartphones is growing. It is expected that in 2017, online purchases from mobile devices will overtake those from a desktop or laptop. Trying to make a purchase from a non-responsive website on smartphone is fiddly, frustrating and is very likely to result in an abandoned purchase! However, a well designed, responsive, e-commerce site will be easy for people to use and to buy your products from.
A responsive site will keep you ahead of your competitors. If 70-80% of sites are non-responsive, there is a very good chance that your competitors don't have responsive websites. By making sure that your website is responsive, you stand a much better chance of potential customers finding your site before your competitors', and then making contact with you, or buying your products or services.
A responsive website will be modern and current. If a website is non-responsive, it is likely to be at least two years old. In fact, the majority of websites we replace are more than five years old. Not only has technology made rapid changes in the past few years, but website users' expectations have also changed. People want to instantly find the information they are looking for on your website. An old website is unlikely to be designed to allow visitors to find that information quickly and easily. The more clicks people need to make to get to what they want, the more likely it is that they will leave your website before they find it.
A responsive website means you only have one site to maintain and update. Many businesses have two websites: their main site, and a separate version for mobile devices. That means an increase in the time and cost of maintaining the sites and keeping the content up to date. Because a responsive website automatically adapts to the size of the screen it is being viewed from, you will only need one site to maintain and update.
People will return to your site. Viewing a responsive website from a mobile phone is easy and convenient. Because users can view the site wherever they are, and they can read it easily without having to pinch and squeeze the text, they are more likely to enjoy the experience, and visit your website again.
Not sure if your website is responsive? Contact it'seeze Horsham today, and we will carry out a free health check on your website to establish if it is responsive, and whether it is performing as well as it could do.
Tagged as: Online Marketing, Website tips
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