The world has gone mobile
Mobile use for searches and shopping increases every year, and in the meantime, other screens and devices have been added to the mix as IoT takes the world by storm. What does this mean for website owners? In the “old days,” you were probably told you needed a mobile site, but that’s no longer the case. What you need is a responsive site that is optimized for all screen sizes, from mobile and tablets to computers and smart TVs. That being said, mobiles are still the most popular device used for learning about brands, shopping, and gaming, but you should keep in mind where the future is headed when optimizing your site for mobile use.
Your primary users
If you know that 80% of your visitors are desktop users, you’ll still want it to be a responsive website, but you can focus your primary design for them. Alternatively, if you know that mobile users account for most of your visitors, your main design can be mobile-oriented from the get-go.
Mobile website vs responsive theme
A responsive site:
is one site that is designed to adjust itself to any screen size. This means you work from one site only and can use a mobile phone to see what your site looks like as you make changes. There are many site builders that allow you to preview your site on different screen sizes.
Mobile website:
This is a site separate from yours that is designed for mobile phones. It was usually created separately and had the advantage of being able to actually see what your site would look like on a smartphone when editing it. The main disadvantage being that you had to edit your main site and mobile website separately. So, if you made a change to your main site, you’d have to go to your mobile site interface and make the changes there as well.
Test on multiple screens
Even a responsive design or theme can look strange on different screens, depending on the images and layout you choose. It is important to always test out your site on many different resolutions. Remember, desktops and laptops these days come in many different sizes, as do tablets and smartphones. Many people are also using their smart TVs to browse, which is a much bigger screen, and you can expect more screen sizes to be added to the mix every year. See how your site adjusts to changes in resolution from big to small to make sure nothing looks out of place, your call to action is always above the fold, and texts and images are clear and appealing.