Is your website mobile friendly?

Unless your site is cutting edge then chances are the answer is no. Over the last year browsing the internet on-the-go has exploded in popularity. More and more people are using their smartphones such as Androids and iPhones, or tablets like the iPad, to browse websites. It’s predicted that 2014 will be the tipping point when more people will be browsing the web on their handheld devices than on traditional desktop computers. Despite this massive increase in popularity, most of the web has not yet caught up with the mobile revolution. This means that when you visit a website on a handheld device you see the entire website. A design that would normally have a full sized desktop monitor to display itself in is crammed into a small screen. If you have found yourself having to pinch and zoom to be able to see the words, click buttons and fill out forms on the website then you will know how frustrating and slow this can be. Is there a better way? Yes! Instead of showing the full desktop design your website should be tailored to fit on a small screen device. Text should be larger, buttons should have lots of space around them so you can press them with your fingers and navigation menus should be tucked away until you need them. There are currently two main types of mobile website. The first technique that came out was to set up two sites. The main website and a separate website specifically designed for mobile visitors. This was effective but meant that web site owners had to remember to update both sites whenever they made changes. Out of date and reduced content is frustrating to mobile visitors. As mobile technology moved on a better technique was developed which is known as responsive design. Responsive design takes a single website and enhances it with technology that can detect the size of the screen a visitor is using when they look at your website. If they visit on a desktop computer with a large monitor then the full site is displayed. If they visit on a small handheld device then the website detects this and changes its layout to fit snuggly into the screen space available, adjusting font sizes and padding along the way. The good news is that your website can most likely be enhanced to support a mobile friendly, responsive design. DBS Internet Marketing are experts at converting websites to use responsive design techniques. Our website has more to read and an introductory video which will help you understand mobile friendly websites in more detail.