The terms mobile-friendly and mobile responsive have been used interchangeably by many individuals when discussing the functionality of modern website design. Now that Google’s search engine favors mobile-friendly websites, clients are turning to web developers to ensure their website is optimized for mobile devices across all platforms.
However, clients need to know that mobile-friendly websites and mobile-responsive websites aren’t the same. There are multiple ways to adapt your website to various mobile platforms. While the objective remains the same, the path each method takes to get there is different. Those differences affect several aspects of your website, including SEO ranking, mobile user experience, website performance, and security.
So what distinguishes a mobile-friendly website from a mobile-responsive website?
More importantly, which is better?
A mobile-friendly website is a term that web developers use for a website that slims down its desktop format to fit mobile devices, such as a smartphone or tablet. It isn’t always the most aesthetic, but it centers on basic mobile usability, ensuring visitors can read content, navigate pages, and interact with features from any device, even if it’s simply a slimmed-down version of its desktop counterpart.
When it comes to mobile web design, using a mobile-friendly strategy is considered a minimum requirement. It gets the job done, but because mobile-friendly designs are simply a minimized version of your current web design, it doesn’t necessarily create a positive mobile user experience. In fact, it treats the mobile display as a secondary option.
With today’s society depending on mobile devices as its primary online experience, it’s important to align the caliber of your website’s mobile design with its desktop counterpart.
A mobile-responsive website design strategy uses a more intricate, intuitive design that puts mobile experience first. The key feature of this design is that it instantly adapts to whatever device it’s pulled up on so that it fits to scale. This flexibility leads to a consistent, seamless user experience, so you never have to worry about the look and feel of your website from one device to another. This is especially important for companies that:
Considering the average daily mobile usage surpassed daily desktop usage in 2014, we think it’s safe to say that most companies fall into that third category. Knowing this, isn’t it time your website embraced a mobile-first, responsive design strategy?
There’s a quick, easy way to find out if your website is optimized for mobile devices. Google offers a free mobile-friendly test tool that helps users determine how well their website performs on mobile devices. Simply click here and type in your website address. Within seconds, Google Developers will generate a report to determine whether your page is mobile-friendly.
If your website isn’t catering to mobile devices, or you are ready to upgrade to a fully mobile-responsive design, Vectra Digital is here to help. We deliver professional web design and development services to small businesses and corporations alike. We help keep our clients up-to-date on the latest SEO changes and security updates to ensure you remain at the forefront of the internet revolution.
Have a question or are you ready to initiate the process of making your website mobile responsive? Call us today at 239-932-4276.
Let’s explore your project; together we’ll tackle any challenge and find the optimal solutions for your need.
