Is Your Business Website Responsive? It Better Be.
If you own a business, and you don’t have an SEO-optimized website, you’re missing out on a lot of phone calls. Instead, those potential clients are going to your competitors—the ones with websites that rank on Google.
Google looks at a number of different factors when choosing which websites rank where. One of those factors is whether or not a website is responsive. In this blog post, I’m going to tell you what responsive web design means and why it is so important for your small business website.
What Is Responsive Web Design?
A responsive website is one that RESPONDS to the user’s screen size, browser type, and other factors. This type of website is designed to detect the parameters of the user’s viewing experience and adjust accordingly. In other words, this website looks good no matter what device it is viewed on. It works in Chrome, Safari, and all other browsers, it looks great on every size screen, and it even works perfectly on a tablet or mobile phone.
Now, just because a site shows up on a phone doesn’t mean it is responsive. Does the mobile version of the site look like a miniature version of the desktop site? If so, that means it is non-responsive. A responsive website doesn’t just shrink in size to fit a tablet or iPhone; it actually resizes and reformats into a new version that is specifically designed for viewing on that device.
Google can tell if your website is mobile-friendly, and this factors into where your website ranks in search results. Here’s the takeaway for owners of business websites: If your site isn’t responsive, you are wasting a valuable marketing opportunity and a good portion of your marketing budget as well. At Go West, we talk a lot about making your website work for you. If you want your site to work for you, it needs to be responsive, so that:
Google likes it (Google prefers responsive sites and will rank them higher in search results)
Your customers can find and view it no matter where they are (desktop, tablet, mobile phone)
Does Your Site Have a Mobile Version?
For most of our clients at Go West Marketing, the ability to view their site on a mobile device is absolutely essential. Without that mobile capacity, that website really isn’t doing its job.
Many people use their smart phones to search for local services. You want them to find your business, so you need to make sure that your site is readable on their mobile devices. If not, you are limiting your site’s usefulness to desktop searches.
You can find out if your website looks good on a mobile using Google’s free Mobile-Friendly tool. Input your web address to find out if Google thinks your site is responsive for mobile devices. If you discover that your site is mobile-friendly, you can submit that information to Google so they factor it into their ranking algorithm (if you have a Go West website, don’t worry; we already did that for you!).
Test Your Current Site on Different Screen Sizes
Even if you have a couple of different computers and laptops in your home, you probably don’t have the equipment or the time to assess how your site looks for all your potential viewers. Screenfly is a free tool that allows you to test your website across a number of different screen dimensions simply by inputting your website URL.
Is My Go West Website Responsive?
If our team at Go West Marketing built your site, you can rest assured that it is comes with a great mobile version and looks clear and readable on a wide variety of screen sizes. We carefully test every website to make sure that it is optimized for viewing on a mobile device—where many (or most) of your potential clients will be looking for you. Whether your Go West website was hand coded or built using a website builder, we make sure that it is responsive and comes with a dynamic, clear, and readable mobile version.
Go West Marketing cares about small business owners and we always have your back. You can rest easy knowing your Internet marketing is in good hands. Contact our web marketing experts today for a free competitive analysis and consultation!
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