The way in which we use and browse the net has changed vastly over the years.  In 2013 mobile usage was around 70% and figures suggest that the number of people using mobile devices to access the internet will be closer to 90% eventually.

Since January this year Google has been contacting website owners through Google Webmaster Tools to warn them if their websites are not mobile friendly.

Google has just announced its latest algorithm which will see websites that are not mobile friendly being seriously penalised in search results. So what this essentially means is if your website doesn’t work well on mobiles, it isn’t going to get found very easily.

Is my website responsive?

If you aren’t sure you can use this handy tool from Google to check: https://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/.

If not, then the solution is to have a responsive website or a dedicated mobile version of your website.

So what is responsive design?

Responsive design means a website is specifically coded to work not just on normal desk top computers and laptops, but to also adapt to work efficiently and easily on smaller screen devices such as mobile phones and tablets.

This ensures that you are providing a great user experience for all of your customers, regardless of the device they are using.

Why is responsive design important for your website?

• Allows users to view and interact with your website easily on any device
• More and more people are using their mobiles to browse the internet
• Provides a consistent experience for your users
• Improves mobile loading times
• Improves search engine performance

So what if your website isn’t responsive?

If your website isn’t responsive, chances are it is quite old and possibly outdated in other ways too. This can start to have a serious impact on its performance in search engines and therefore the amount of leads or sales your business gets from your site. You should look at upgrading or changing your website as soon as possible.

If your website is on a CMS platform you can look at changing your theme for one that is responsive. If you can’t change themes or aren’t sure how to do that, then you can hire a web developer to update or change your theme to making it fully responsive. The good news is it is often possible to update a site to be responsive, by adapting the code to make it work on all devices using media queries. A professional developer will be able to do this in a way that keeps the design of your site, but optimises it for viewing and loading on mobiles devices.

If you are interested in having your business website converted or changed to a responsive site, get in touch for a no obligation chat about how Bridget Designs can help you.

About the Author

Bridget is the owner and founder of Bridget Designs

She is an experienced web designer, front end and WordPress developer, graphic designer and illustrator with a background in fine art, digital art.