The facts are strong. Mobile traffic has been growing steadily for the past five years. It increased more than 50 percent during 2013, and last December, tablet and smartphone traffic accounted for 20 percent of all internet traffic. Why, then, would any company turn the other cheek when it comes to optimizing their website for mobile devices?
It’s not exactly intentional, at least for most businesses. Companies that have yet to optimize their websites generally have two issues going on. The first is that they aren’t sure how to complete the project. Who do they hire? How much will it cost? The second is that they have yet to truly understand the value of a mobile site.
Let’s start with the latter. If you have a business in 2014, then without a doubt, your website should be mobile optimized. This means that your site can be easily viewed on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. Mobile-friendly sites possess the following qualities:
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Basic colors
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Minimal content
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Simple images
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Effortless navigation
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Easy push buttons
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Easy to read text
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Clickable links
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Fast loading times
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Mobile-friendly videos
There are two ways to get your site optimized: a dedicated mobile site or a responsive design.
Let’s get right to the point. There are advantages and disadvantages to each, and one will probably be a better fit over the other for your company.
Dedicated Mobile Site
A dedicated mobile site is a design that is made specifically for mobile devices. It will look different than your standard website, and therefore, can feel somewhat disconnected. So, if a user wants to access content or information that is on your main site, they won’t be able to do so from the mobile site. Mobile sites also need to be updated separately from the main site, resulting in more diligence on your part.
On the flip side, dedicated sites are simple, clean and fast. They contain only the information that mobile users need and leave out heavier stuff like blogs and downloadable content.
Responsive Design
Responsive design is the better option for many businesses because it’s affordable and time efficient. With responsive design, you have one site design that responds to all devices – laptops, desktop computers, smartphones, tablets – you name it. These designs detect the resolution of the device and then respond to this. All users get the same experience, and you only have to manage one design. With the ever-increasing variety of mobile devices, screen sizes and resolutions, responsive web design is smart and practical.
The only potential downside is that loading times will be higher than with a dedicated site because there is more content to load. Fortunately, website designs are becoming simpler and minimal, so modern site designs do favor a responsive layout.
There are billions of people accessing the web from their mobile devices – don’t you want to be a part of this? We thought so. Fortunately, SEMGeeks can help. Our company offers innovative web design that is optimized for mobile devices. Drop us a line to learn about your options.
