Having a responsive WordPress website for small business is critical so it is responsive to different devices. Most people assume a website will automatically optimise when viewed on a smartphone or tablet but this is not the case. Vodafone statistics state Australia’s smartphone penetration sits at 84% which is the fourth largest market globally according to the Deloitte Mobile Consumer Survey. At an ever increasing rate individuals are using mobile phones, tablets and netbooks for browsing the internet. This means your website needs to be responsive to capture your target market. Just looking great and working well on a desktop or laptop is not going to allow you to get the market share you need.
What is a responsive WordPress Website?
A responsive WordPress website for small business is one where your website can adapt and deliver the best experience to visitors to your site regardless of the device they are using at the time. For example, on a desktop your website may have a long image at the topic and three or more boxes horizontally across the page highlighting your key products or services. Given the size of a mobile phone screen it would not be a great user experience if a visitor had to scroll across a long way to see the information. Instead the information should be responsive so it fits the various screen sizes and in this case shows the three boxes vertically rather than horizontally. Responsive websites are developed within the code of your WordPress website’s theme; specifically using HTML CSS code to adapt to screen sizes and ensuring there are flexible images.
Responsive web design enables the elements to grow or shrink, move and adjust and be rearranged to make the user experience the best it can be for the device they are using. The aim is to limit the scrolling or resizing needed by the website visitor to make navigating, and the experience of your website, great for users. Content width, flexible images and layout across tablet, mobile and desktop screens is optimised for user experience. This picks up each image, text and pages to deliver a responsive website for users.
How do I know if I have a responsive web design?
One of the easiest ways to check if you have a responsive web design is to view your website on a smartphone or tablet device. If it has a responsive design you will notice the pages are interactive and dynamic and adjust to the screen sizes. These kinds of dynamic and sophisticated web sites can be accessed more conveniently through mobile phones and tablets.
The other way to check if you have a responsive WordPress website for small business is to use a free tool such as Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
Responsive web design considerations
In a responsive and interactive design web developers need to make sure images are adjusted for the resolution to be viewed across all devices. Mobile phones create greater challenges due to the lack of screen size there is to utilise meaning the call to action for your website must consider where it will sit when viewed across devices. As you can see our Brisbane Web Design Agency site is responsive and the call to action has been considered as part of the responsive design.
Ease of Use
Website design needs to consider that mobile user screen size are more difficult to navigate. Where you may have multiple tabs open on your desktop or laptop computer that is difficult on a mobile phone. If you have a checkout feature on your website, making sure the user experience simple and easy for a mobile and tablet device will go a long way to improving conversation rates.
Consider Interaction Methods
On a desktop or laptop you are generally interacting using your mouse or keyboard. On a mobile or tablet device you are usually using your fingers or thumb. If button sizes or links are too small it will create a poor experience and most likely lead to people bouncing off your site onto one of your competitors. Web design needs to ensure the manner in which visitors will interact is built into the responsive website.
Deliver What is Expected
Most website visitors have an expectation about the basic layout of your site. People expect to find a navigation menu at the top, on desktop, and also a search bar. Navigation menus and search bars also need to have the right site layout so they are responsive to mobile and tablet devices. If someone is searching on a mobile device they will want to find the information they need within your site quickly and easily to get to the right pages. If the navigation menu is not responsive to the mobile phone screen it will create a frustrating user experience. As a business owner it is very important to deliver on customer expectations and that is what a responsive WordPress website for small business will do.
Do Not Forget about Landscape
It would be easy to forget about landscape orientation when designing for a mobile or tablet device. Many mobile users prefer to turn their phone and read content using the landscape screen. Mobile devices are set up to flip to landscape by default when the mobile device is turned.
Typography and Fonts
When deciding on the font size, style and colour for your responsive design it can be tempting to choose a larger font size as it is perceived to be a better visitor experience for ease of reading content. This is not true when considering website design. Larger fonts can look too large when viewed on a mobile or tablet device and make it more difficult to read.
Responsive Images
Some mobile or tablet devices display more pixels per centimetre which can result in the images being difficult to see or even blurry. Browsers now support image element which choose the right image resolution depending on the device being used. Ensuring your website does this is the role of your web developer but you should make sure they are very clear you are wanting a responsive WordPress website for small business.
Search Engine Page Ranking Impacts
Google has announced they will be using mobile-first indexing for all internet search starting in September 2020. What this means for business owners and not-for-profit leaders is that Google will use the mobile version of your website’s content to rank your pages. Search results will be available for both desktop and mobile and table devices but they focus on mobile. Google first began mobile-first indexing in 2016 and have flagged their data now shows 70% of websites have already shifted to a responsive layout.
Summary
Having a responsive WordPress website for small business is not only important today but with increased mobile phone usage, and internet browsing occurring on devices, maximising the visitor experience for all devices will support business owners in converting much needed traffic into a new client. Aside from making your website more user friendly another key reason to having a responsive web design is to support your page ranking.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) helps lift which page you sit on when someone searches for a keyword associated with the products and services you provide. Google filters through a huge array of data to determine which websites and pages are displayed on page one, page two and so on.
A responsive WordPress website for small business is one of the key factors informing the search engine algorithm so must be a core consideration for all business owners and not-for-profit leaders for the prime face of your organisation; your website.
