Mobile Websites

Are Mobile Websites Important?

Oh yes, mobile websites are extremely important! We all know that technology advances at a very quick pace. Things change so fast, it's often hard to keep up. By now, most of us have a smart phone with a data plan. That allows us to browse the web, write email and do all kinds of things that weren't possible just a few years ago. You probably noticed yourself that you use your phone to look up information online fairly often. Some websites look awful on a phone, as the text is too small to read and the buttons are also too small. You end up having to zoom in and out and it can be quite frustrating. Then there are the websites where everything shows up beautifully on a phone. All the text, pictures and buttons are sized appropriately and it's very easy to navigate.

Have you viewed your own website on a phone? How about on a tablet? What about laptops and huge desktop monitors? Mobile websites will show up properly on any device, regardless of how large or small the screen is. The layout and size of the website may look a bit different from device to device, but that's so that it displays nicely and is easy to read and navigate. How do mobile websites do this? Well, there's a relatively new way of programming websites which is sometimes referred to as "responsive design". What that means is that the website design responds to the size of the screen. It automatically resizes and repositions items on the pages.

Can I Change My Website To A Responsive Design?

Generally the answer is no, which means that you'll have to get your entire website reprogrammed so that it works on all devices. The amount of work required to change older websites to mobile websites is almost always more than rebuilding it from scratch. The good news though is that you can use that opportunity to make changes to your website as well. Perhaps you wanted to use different graphics, get a new layout, update the text or add more content.

Do Mobile Websites Cost More?

Mobile websites should not be a separate website. Instead, your website should be responsive.

Just a couple of years ago it would have been necessary to build a separate website for the mobile crowd (if you wanted a great user experience). However, maintaining two separate sites, one regular and one mobile, was always a time-consuming effort. It was also difficult for us to convince clients of the need for a mobile version of their site. They had a hard time justifying the additional costs. In all fairness though, mobile wasn't as widespread back then as it is now.

Due to advancements in our industry, we now create all our website projects so that they work in both desktop and mobile environments. As a huge added bonus, there's just one website to maintain. The entire site is 100% responsive. Therefore it doesn't matter if a user is viewing the site on their phone, tablet, laptop or 22" monitor. The site simply re-adjusts so that the site displays properly. For example, on a mobile device the menu bar is automatically converted to buttons, images are resized to a smaller size and the overall experience appears tailor-made for that particular device.

The part which really impresses our clients is that there isn't even an added cost to do so! It's a standard feature, not an extra. All we need to be mindful of is that we program the site from the get-go with mobile and responsiveness in mind.

How Do I Benefit From Having A Mobile Website?

If you were to check your website statistics, you would probably notice that around half of the visitors to your website are using a mobile device. If your website isn't responsive, then those visitors are going to leave your site and go elsewhere. They will find competitors of yours who have easy to use mobile websites and you'll lose out. I'm sure you don't want to turn away half of the visitors to your website! Imagine all the potential sales that you're sending away to your competitors. Instead, you should make sure that your website is responsive.

Can All Developers Create Mobile Websites?

To create mobile websites, also known as responsive websites, it requires the appropriate knowledge to do so. It's a relatively new concept and as a result, many website developers are not yet able to do so. Sometimes it can be a bit tricky to get certain components to work properly across all the various devices. This can lead to mobile websites not really working the way they should. Since it can be a lot of extra work for someone who is not accustomed to building mobile websites, they may end up charging extra as well.

When discussing this topic with your website developer, make sure that your website will be just one website. You don't want to have to manage multiple websites. Additionally, make sure that any special features of your website will work on smaller screens. Things to look out for are forms, shopping carts, photo galleries, videos and table-based content. Ask them if they have built responsive websites before, and if they charge extra to do so.

Experienced website developers who build professional sites will easily be able to build mobile websites and they won't charge extra for them. Keep that in mind when shopping around. One of the main goals should be to create a positive user experience for visitors to your website. Make sure there aren't any frustrating components that will make them click away from your site.

How Can I Find Out More?

If you have questions about how you can have a properly developed website which is responsive and works on all devices, visit our website at www.GeckoWebsites.com. Go to our contact page and get in touch with us. We would be happy to evaluate your website and discuss your options. Each project we work on is fully customized to our clients' needs. Additionally we also provide options to continuously monitor, update, secure and manage your website for you. Contact us to find out more!