Does My Website Really Need To Be Mobile Friendly?

12 Jan 2015 07:19
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Does my website really need to be mobile friendly? That is one of the first questions website developers must consider when preparing to launch a new design. The answer to that question depends on the goals in mind for the site. If search engine traffic is going to be important in drawing visitors, the site will need to be functional for mobile Internet users even if they are not a target demographic. The evolving mechanism for ranking websites in search engine results is the reason for the need to be mobile friendly regardless of the needs of the user base.

Search Engine Rankings
Even if mobile functionality is not specifically a goal for the design of a website, it might still be important to present a web presence that is mobile friendly. Google has recently introduced an incentive to make websites more functional for mobile users. With growing frequency, sites returned in Google's search result lists have a banner next to them if the website designs meet the necessary criteria to be labeled as mobile friendly. As increasingly more users rely on mobile browsers, their decision to select sites that have that designation could change the nature of search engine rankings.

Sites that fail to provide adequate optimization for mobile users could effectively suffer penalties because they may lose relevancy. That means websites will need to be optimized with mobile users in consideration just to be certain that their site rankings do not fall. Website developers can use the tools provided by Google to assess their sites and learn what may be done to improve mobile functionality.

Unnecessary Optimization
There are, of course, examples of sites that need not cater to mobile visitors. If the users or operators of a website do not rely on search engine rankings for traffic, it may not be necessary to create a presence that is mobile friendly. In such an instance, the other factor in making the determination is if there is a need to provide mobile functionality to existing site users and visitors. If the answer to both questions is no, a developer is safe in forgoing mobile optimization efforts.

With a growing number of computer users turning to mobile devices for their Internet activities, it is natural for webmasters to contemplate the necessity of providing a mobile presence for site visitors. Ultimately, it depends on the individual requirements of each website. If a site needs to provide some functions for mobile users and will need to do well with ranking in Google's search results, the answer is increasingly going to be yes.

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