Is Your Site Mobile-Friendly? Why Responsive Design Is More Important Than Ever Now.
You may have heard the words responsive web design (RWD), but you are not alone if you don’t really know what that means. What does it mean to be ‘responsive’? Simply put, Responsive design means laying out and coding a website across multiple devices, i.e. desktop, iPhone, iPad, etc. for design that provides a smooth transition and minimizes resizing, panning, and scrolling.
Why does responsive web design matter?
According to Google, ninety percent of users move between multiple devices to make decisions and to find information. If your website looks like it is out of the stone age (in internet time, that would be 2010), users are less likely to trust you enough to book an appointment with you. Still not convinced? Here are some mind-blowing stats from Mobithinking:
- There are over 1.2 billion mobile web users worldwide
- In the U.S., 25% of mobile Web users are mobile-only
- Mobile apps have been downloaded 10.9 billion times
- Mobile device sales are increasing across the board with over 85 percent of new handsets able to access the mobile Web
Mobile Optimization’s Effect on Search Rankings
Google recently announced that starting April 21, websites that are not optimized for mobile can expect a drop in search rankings. Google’s number one priority is to deliver high quality results to users based on what they search for. This means that search engines are slowly starting to eliminate sites that are not built in responsive design since those websites are viewed as outdated and therefore are not the highest quality result for the user. In short, if your website is not responsive, Google will soon ignore or penalize you for not having updated technology!
Also, Google looks closely at bounce rates for websites. If users see your mobile site is antiquated, 61% of those users will return to Google to look for a more responsive website. Responsive sites also avoid the problem of having duplicate content out on the web because your previously separate site are now a single well-designed responsive site!
Why is responsive design particularly important for audiology websites?
Current and potential patients face information overload when searching for information on medical websites. Responsive design provides the quickest solution to serve information to clients regardless of what device they are using. Also, potential patients make judgements about a practice based on their website. If they see a website that is extremely outdated, they are more likely to assume that your practice isn’t up to par in other areas as well.
Is your website mobile-friendly? Find out by using Google’s great new tool that will do a quick analysis of your site: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/ or give us a call at 866-950-3571 and we will do a free analysis of your website and discuss options for upgrading to Responsive Design!