Why does your new website need to be responsive?

A Responsive site is key.

Having a responsive site is key in 2017, but why should you turn your site into a responsive one? what’s the benefits to all this?

Responsive site vs Mobile template

Having a responsive site is better than using a mobile template, with a mobile template you’re really running 2 sites a desktop version and a mobile version each come with separate URLs. Mobile template are more difficult to maintain than a responsive site, as you’re having to do the amends twice once for your desktop and once for the mobile template.

Having a responsive site is better as you make all the amends to one site which works on all devices seamlessly, plus Google loves that you have just one URL that it can crawl and not 2 that are separate and not connected.

Mobile searches overtakes desktop

According to google almost half of all searches were performed on a mobile device which is insane when you look only 3 years ago mobile searches were just over 20% and now is surpassing desktop searches.

What’s does that mean tho? well, it means more and more people are searching/browsing the web on a phone and not on a desktop. So what does that mean for you?

Having a responsive website is a benefit if you check up on your current site, or a site that you know isn’t responsive, you may find difficult to use and you’re having to pinch and zoom to click on buttons/links, why a potential customer is not going to enjoy.

Customers love a user experience

If a user stumbles across your website and cannot find what they are looking for then, there’s a 60% chance they will leave and go elsewhere which is what you don’t want, that if they have a positive experience with your mobile website, a user is more likely to buy a product.

Having an easy to use simple user experience on your site could potentially increase sales and drive more people to your site or store. If people enjoyed the experience they’ll be back for more soon.

Just remember to make it easy for the customer to find what they need rather that an over-complicated mess that just doesn’t work.

How can I make my site responsive?

If you’re familiar with WordPress you can make the amends to the style sheet and turn your template into a responsive one, or if you don’t really know how or have the time to do it then you can try a new theme instead most of the free themes on WordPress are responsive but don’t expect much from a free theme, it will give you some basic settings but nothing major.

Alternative check you have the most up to date version of your theme, if you have a left it a couple of years some free updates might be available to you that brings a responsive side to the site or even just a setting in the theme options to turn the responsive side on is usually disabled by default.

Paying the extra £30 for a new WordPress theme that’s responsive and fast is an easier option in some cases, people may disagree and say you can do it yourself for less, you can if you know what you’re doing. But if you don’t and have some time to kill and think you can install a configure a new WordPress theme then go for it, just remember to take a backup first.

Overall

Why does your new website need to be responsive? because that’s the future more and more people are shopping on their phones than at an actual computer. Its worth doing if you don’t have a responsive site.