Is it important to have a mobile friendly website?

One question that we get asked every day; “Is it important to have a mobile friendly website??”

Simple answer: Yes! It changes the appearance of the website so it’s easy to navigate on a mobile device. Having a mobile optimized website makes Google happy as it is keeping up with their latest algorithm.

What’s the difference between a website that is mobile friendly and one that is not?

A mobile friendly website is what it says on the tin. It’s a website that is easily accessible on a smartphone or tablet device.

“But I can already view my website on my mobile phone?”

If the website is not mobile friendly, it has the exact same viewing on the small screen as it would on a larger screened PC. The website is designed for a larger screen so viewing it on a mobile device would involve a lot of zooming in and out. Unfortunately, some people lose interest in their online solutions if they are not simply a click of a button away. According to a recent study conducted by Google, 61% of online shoppers will leave a website if it is not friendly to their mobile device. So essentially, you may be losing customers!

A lot of businesses create websites to act as an online brochure to inform potential customers who visit their site of their contact details and some information about the company. In this case it is not necessarily used as a marketing tool. This could be because they work mainly through recommendations and no longer feel that they need to advertise their products/services. Understandably, making the website that you don’t use regularly mobile friendly, may not be at the top of your to do list. The rise of mobile technology however has increased massively over the past five years. Making the site mobile friendly not only changes the appearance of the website but ensures that the website is kept up to date with Google’s latest algorithm. Google LIKES mobile optimized websites and ranks them highly. What if you can no longer work off your recommendations and need to advertise your website online? If you were to look into SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as an example, this can only work to its full potential if your website is mobile optimized.

Take a look here to see if your website is mobile compatible:

https://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/