As a business owner, you already know the importance of an online presence, and you likely have a website in place. In truth, even having a user-friendly website isn’t enough to win favor. It’s now also a prerequisite that your site is mobile friendly. In fact, as of 2014, this has been the principal way users view websites. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re missing out on potential business.
Since 2015, Google has been trying to remove duplicate sites from their listings. Instead, they favor websites that are both desktop and mobile friendly. So, how do you know if you meet the challenge? Give Google’s mobile-friendly test a go. If you receive an F for your attempts, read on to find out how you can get your site mobile.
Responsive design
Perhaps the most important thing to consider is a responsive design. This is what allows your site to appear in both formats without worry. But, what is it, and how can you achieve it? In short, this involves using flexible layouts and images that can shift and change depending on the device. How you achieve it isn’t quite as simple as this requires a fair amount of HTML knowledge. The good news is that there are plenty of guides to help you get the hang of this. Either that, or you could turn to a company like Lform that specializes in web design and can do it for you.
Get rid of wasted space
It’s also worth considering that you need your website to be as tight as possible. On a computer, you have a whole screen’s worth of space to play with. That isn’t the case when going mobile. Large borders and wasted space will make your website harder to navigate. Get rid of edges by setting your site to the narrowest width you can while leaving it readable. Set your images at 100% width so that they automatically resize for mobile. This way, your customers should never have to zoom in or struggle with navigation.
Consider mobile capabilities
It’s also crucial to consider mobile capabilities when it comes to plugins and such. One thing’s for sure – technology will definitely work against your business if you don’t get on top of this. For instance, on a computer-friendly page, you may use plugins like Flash to display videos. If you’re keeping mobile design in mind, YouTube would be a much better option. In fact, it would pay to consider the host you use for every media aspect of your site. If it isn’t mobile-friendly, you may want to think again.
