What is Mobile Responsiveness? (Definition)

Mobile Responsiveness

What Does Mobile Responsive Mean?

Mobile responsiveness refers to whether a website is optimised to be functional and aesthetically pleasing on devices of different sizes.

Why Is Mobile Responsiveness Important?

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

This is how our website looks on desktop devices:

screenshot grow hack scale homepage for desktop - mobile responsiveness

And this is our website on mobile:

screenshot grow hack scale homepage for mobile - mobile responsiveness

Why Your Website Needs to be Responsive on Mobile

In 2019, 63% of searches on Google in the US came from mobile. And this number is only going up with our world heading towards the use of smaller devices.

But that shouldn't be your only reason.

Here are two major motives why you should invest in a responsive design for your website.

1. Improve User Experience

Before you think about the quality of your content or the services you provide, think about the user and their experience.

What does their experience feel like when browsing your website?

The majority of online visitors will leave a website if they find it hard to browse.

Mobile responsive websites, on the other hand, enhance trust through positive interactions. They load much faster and provide better browsing options.

That often results in higher conversions and profits.

2. Search Engine Rankings

Google started considering mobile-responsiveness as a crucial ranking factor in 2015. And today, it's almost impossible for a non-responsive website to be at the top of SERPs.

That's why content alone isn't enough.

Google cares a lot about user experience, and it's only willing to reward websites that believe the same thing.

If you go to Google right now and type in any search query that comes to mind, the top 10 results are almost always guaranteed to be mobile responsive websites.

How to Test the Responsiveness of Your Website

You can tell if a website if responsive by using a computer device. All you need to do is resize the window from full screen to smaller sizes.

But, this method isn't guaranteed to cover all sizes and check for errors in the design.

A better way to check the mobile-friendliness of your website is by using a test tool.

Google has a Mobile-Friendly Test tool to help you optimise your website for mobile.

Enter your website URL and click "TEST URL."

screenshot google mobile friendly test - mobile responsiveness

You’ll get your results within a few seconds.

This is what you’ll see if your website is fully responsive.

screenshot positive message - mobile responsiveness

If not, you’ll get an error message with a small report for how you can better optimise your website.

screenshot negative message and feedback - mobile responsiveness

Here you’re given a checklist of things you can do to be on your way to a better experience for end users and improve your ranking in SERPs!

How Can We Help?

Want to make sure that you’re ticking all the boxes you can in order to rank highly? Give us a call and we’ll organise a free strategy session for you or your team.

Moving forwards, if you need extra hands on deck, we can pair you with a marketing team through our matching service - just let us know what you need!