Why your website needs to be ‘Mobile friendly’

At the start of 2013 we noticed about 10% of our website traffic was coming from handheld mobile devices. By late 2013 this figure had jumped to about 15% but in 2015 we find close to 25% of our website visitors are using mobile devices. Why is this important you might ask?

Google loves ‘Mobile friendly’ websites

Google recently announced that it’s making another major change to its search algorithms, and they have stated, “Starting April 21, we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact on our search results.”

As such, you need to ensure your website functions perfectly on handheld devices. Website visitors whether they use a smartphone, tablet or laptop expect to see a website that functions like clockwork, offering the same feel, experience and access to your information. As the percentage of users on mobile devices increases, you need to adapt your website to accommodate these usage patterns.

The key features that distinguish a fully optimised website for mobile devices from a dated one include:

• Simplified navigation
• Clean page layouts
• Compressed design elements
• Phone numbers having click to call functionality
• Addresses set-up to use the device maps functionality
• Calls to action set-up to work with simple pop-up forms
• Effective design transitions that adapt to the screen size and device orientation

What happens if my website isn’t ‘Mobile friendly’?

If your website isn’t ‘responsive’ to these devices, your business will look like a dinosaur in the eyes of Gen X and Gen Y prospects. The Internet generation critiques poor website functionality and will skip over a poor mobile website in favour of a fully optimised one. Not only that, in the eyes of Google you will get downgraded in the rankings and lose ground to your competitors after April 21, 2015.