What is Mobile-Friendly and Responsive Design?
When you start designing a website, you need to know the differences between mobile-friendly vs. responsive. Everything is moving mobile, but what does it mean? Are mobile-optimized websites mobile-friendly? And are mobile-friendly websites mobile-optimized? What about mobile responsive design? One of the most common SEO questions we get is, "What's the difference between mobile-friendly, mobile-optimized, and responsive design?" We understand that the words are so similar yet so different. That's why we decided to make it easier for you by dividing how each term is similar and what is best for your website.
Mobile-Friendly Design
A mobile-friendly site will work for mobile compatibility users, but it is usually a slimmed-down desktop version of the website and does not include mobile responsive design elements. The mobile-friendly essentially desktop version shrank to a smaller screen, but didn't maintain the same level of functionality, user experience, or design look.
If it's as mobile as your website right now, make sure you're visiting your Google Search Console frequently and looking for issues with the mobile experience. This is normal when your site is not mobile-optimized. For example, keep clickable elements close together (a rule is that your content should be written in at least a 14- to 16-point font so that it can be read when your content is displayed on a smaller screen size) ). Or it shouldn't be hard to click). While mobile-friendly websites will display on mobile screens, this is Google's minimum requirement and will not rank higher than mobile-optimized or mobile responsive sites.
Mobile Responsive Design
In the past, web developers used to design websites with a fixed width for desktop. But then people started using new devices with lots of different screens sizes. The fixed screen size was no longer functional. People with small-sized screens hated the experience. So, website design needed a change. That change is mobile responsiveness. A responsive website is one with a layout that adjusts to the screen based on the device it's viewed from. The content on the page automatically changes to fit the difference in screen size. The elements on the page are flexible. Also, unnecessary images and elements are hidden to provide a better browsing experience.
There are four screen sizes responsive design focuses on:
Desktop monitors
Smaller desktop
Tablets
Mobile phones
Why Your Website Needs to be Responsive on Mobile?
In 2019, 63 percent of searches on Google in the US were from mobile. And that number is only increasing with our world moving towards the use of smaller devices.
But it shouldn't be your only reason.
Here are two major reasons why you should invest in responsive design for your website.
1. Improve User Experience
2. Search Engine Rankings