If you're not considering Mobile as part of your digital marketing strategy, you need to pinch yourself and ask why not! Back in April, Google launched their 'mobilegeddon' algorithm which looked to knock down the rankings (on a mobile search, at least) those sites who aren't mobile friendly; the justification being that those sites which DO offer a mobile-friendly version offer a far better level of user experience. Of course, this means that if your businesses website isn't responsive, you're missing out on opportunities and likely almost freely giving work away to your competitors.  Here we've teamed up with Newcastle-Upon-Tyne web designers, Way Fresh. to outline just why Responsive Web Design is SO important for SME's.

Superior User Experience

The bottom line of Responsive Web design is that you'll be offering EVERY USER a superior browsing experience, regardless of the device which they're using. Whether they're using a desktop, tablet or mobile device, they'll be using a site that works for them and displays content accordingly.  In a world of multiple different sizes of phones, tablets and desktop displays, offering a 'one-size-fits-all' solution is no longer acceptable and you'll quickly find that you're neglecting large parts of your target market.

The trick with responsive web design is knowing what to display.  For example, a mobile version doesn't necessarily need to display every little detail like a slider, but on a desktop site, it would make more sense.  It's about creating a compromise in which the user experience and expectations are delivered across each device. If a slider takes up too much screen space on mobile, ditch it!  It's more important that your mobile version is easy to navigate.

Better Conversion Rates

If you're not serving an optimized site based upon different devices, you're almost certainly missing out on all important conversions. If a user is struggling to find what they're looking for when browsing on a mobile site or even has to zoom in and scroll to see what you're offering, there's a good chance they'll leave your site and look elsewhere. Even if you've got a superior offering, first impressions really do count and it's absolutely vital that you consider your conversion path.

Responsive web design allows you to offer calls to action based upon the needs and requirements of a browser on different devices, while still utilizing only one main site rather than sub-domains or separate mobile sites.

The bottom line of any business and website is to encourage conversions, and without a responsive site, you'll quickly find that you'll struggle to achieve this.

Better Search Rankings

As outlined above, Google rolled out their 'mobile-friendly' update back in April, and as such, it should now be seen almost as a necessity to offer a premium mobile browsing experience. While you may have previously held onto strong mobile search positions with a desktop-only site, you'll now likely struggle without placement on mobile devices as mobile searches are estimated to have now surpassed desktop searches; that's a lot of potential traffic to be missing out on!

The search engines are still THE single most important method of discovery for suppliers of both products and services across most industries and the last thing you want is to be losing ground due to having an outdated desktop-only website.

At the end of the day, responsive isn't the future of web design, it's the present, and if you're not utilizing it as part of your mobile search strategy, there's every chance you're missing out on all important deals.

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