If you’re like the majority of us, you are glued to your smart phone. You probably rely on it to respond to emails, keep track of the news and interact with friends on social media. In fact, the end of 2016 was the first time that mobile internet use surpassed desktop use (according to a US study), tipping the scales 51.2 percent for mobile to 48.7 percent for desktop.

It is so important to reach your customer base when you own a website, and in the digital age that means making sure people on mobile devices can find and browse your site. It also means making sure they can remain as happy as possible during that experience, so optimizing your website for mobile isn’t just a trend or a side option, like it might have been in years past.

Today, making your website mobile-friendly is an absolute must. If you do the research, the experts will all tell you the same thing, and they’re right. Mobile is where your customers are – so it’s also where you should be. As time goes by, more and more websites will emerge that are mobile-friendly, pushing those that are not even further down the search results page and away from customers.

Below is a list of the top reasons to make your website mobile-friendly.

10 Reasons to Make Your Website Mobile Friendly

1. Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites over those that are not mobile-friendly in mobile search results. In April 2015, the Google algorithm change that occurred tweaked the way that Google displays mobile search results. Websites that are optimized for mobile rank better than those who don’t – plain and simple.

1. 2. People everywhere use mobile devices to do everything from simple information gathering to purchasing big ticket items and much, much more. The reason? It’s fast and easy. Consumers in every industry want to connect and get what they’re looking for quickly. If you’re not optimized for mobile, you can’t offer your customers that type of experience.


2. 3. It helps you build credibility with your customers, your clients, and influencers in your industry. Whether you’re selling B2B or B2C, with a mobile-friendly website, anyone who tries to visit your site on a mobile device will have a proper experience, and that will encourage them to see you as a credible resource for information, products and services.


3. 4. It’s becoming a standard best practice. A great many websites are mobile-friendly (usually the most reliable websites, I might add), with more and more coming online every day. Responsive web design has made mobile optimization more straight forward and accessible to everyone, and that means users have begun to expect this level of functionality to come standard when browsing on their mobile devices. 


4. 5. You can reach more customers, faster. Google rewards websites that are mobile-friendly with higher ranking in mobile search results (see No. 1 on this list). So, simply by the virtue of having a mobile-friendly website, your site will be seen and visited by more people. Making your website mobile-friendly automatically opens your customer base up to anyone performing a mobile search. And even better – customers won’t have to hunt for your site or type in the exact URL to find it – they can just perform a search to find you quickly and easily.


5. 6. You’ll make your customers much happier. When a customer or a potential customer accesses your site to find information or look for something you sell, you want the experience to be nothing short of great. Because many people use mobile devices to access the web, only a mobile-friendly website can promise to offer that experience. Happy customers will return to your site and tell others about how great it is. Unhappy customers will do the opposite.


6. 7. Because Google wants you to do it. Webmasters know when Google recommends you do something, you should really try to do it. This is the case with making websites mobile-friendly. Google has explained why mobile is so important in their own words, and the number one reason they cite is everyone has smartphones, and they’re constantly using them to search.


7. 8. Your website will look great and function well on any device, provided you use responsive web design to build or redesign your site. Why take chances when it comes to mobile optimization? With responsive design, your website will actually respond to the mobile device a person is using to access your site, and it will render to look and function well, no matter what.


8. 9. It benefits your reputation. Not just online, but offline as well. People will take note of a website they have a great experience with – and they will also take note of a website they have a bad experience with. Reputation is everything, and most businesses can’t afford to give people a bad experience – digital or otherwise.


9. 10. Your business will be seen as modern and relevant. You might offer some of the most useful, valuable, and unique products or services on the market, but if your website’s mobile experience is poor or non-existent, your company will be seen as a digital dinosaur – encouraging people to seek help elsewhere. On the other hand, mobile-friendly websites are seen as contemporary, cutting-edge and legit – they are how you get your foot in the door with anyone that has a smartphone.
   

What is Responsive Web Design Really?

Simply put, responsive web design enables your website to adapt to the device the website visitor is using at the time they visit your site. This means that no matter where a website visitor is or what kind of computer or device they use to get to your site – as long as they are connected to the Internet, the website will render to look great, be easily navigated, and load relatively quickly.

By responding to the device a visitor is using, responsive web design enables visitors to interact with a website easily, with minimal need for resizing, panning or scrolling when they arrive. Responsive websites can even respond to a user’s movements – like turning your smartphone horizontally vs. vertically – and still render a user-friendly look and layout. 

Not only does responsive design provide for optimal viewing and easy navigation on literally any platform (making for the best possible customer experience online), it is fast becoming a given for many websites and a popular best practice in the web industry at large. 

Websites that aren’t mobile-friendly are quickly becoming defunct within our fast-evolving digital landscape. As time goes by, more and more websites will emerge that are mobile-friendly, pushing those that are not even farther down the search results page and away from customers.