WordPress websites that are mobile-friendly are becoming more common, but it can still be challenging to create a beautiful, responsive site regardless of how common they may seem. Throughout this guide, you will learn why you should have a mobile-friendly site, how you can create one with WordPress, and which tools you should use to implement one.
When your WordPress site does not have a mobile-friendly design, it may have a negative impact on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) and even lose customers due to its lack of usability. You may feel that it is impossible to integrate mobile features into your website if you aren't a web developer. For that reason, you should consider engaging an expert WordPress development company with expertise in making a mobile-friendly or responsive website.
Make your WordPress site mobile-friendly by:
1. Why is a mobile-friendly design important?
I believe it is accurate to say that 61% of searches were conducted using a mobile device in Q4 2019, as reported by Google. Today, more than half of the population uses smartphones and tablets over traditional desktop devices, so your website must display well on any device keep up with the screen size. By making your website mobile-friendly, you will improve your users' experience and make it easier for them to find what they are looking for.
Besides user-friendliness, Google is another reason why you should make your site mobile-friendly. Since 2015, Google recognizes and rewards mobile-friendly web pages. Ultimately, the decision came down to one decisive factor: whether your website was mobile-friendly.
A site that looks good on mobile devices will rank better in search results than a site that does not. A mobile-friendly site is a pretty cool benefit to have, so be sure to create one. It can harm your website's traffic, however, if your website's design isn't ready to be displayed on smaller screens.
The good news is that, if your WordPress website is not yet mobile-friendly, there are plenty of tools available to help you upgrade to a fully-functional, responsive site. Where.
2. Run the mobile-friendly test.
Test your website on different devices (like a mobile phone) to determine if it is truly responsive. Especially if you have an abundance of old phones lying around, testing it on each one would still be cumbersome.
Using Google's mobile-friendly testing tool, you can find out if your site qualifies for the award. You can quickly determine if your mobile design is responsive by entering your site's URL.
Google has released a Mobile-Friendly Test API so you can test URLs with automated tools. The advantage of using this method is that you can quickly test more pages on your website, as well as monitor the most important ones without constantly looking at your browser tool.
You will want to use Google's mobile-friendly tool to benchmark your website so that you can start making changes.
3. Create a responsive theme.
In most cases, you will be fine if you installed a new WordPress theme recently. Although if you have been using the theme for quite some time, it might be time to update the version.
Make sure your WordPress version and theme version are up-to-date. Take care of pending updates. There will be some updates that contain mobile-friendly elements that may be sufficient to fix your problem. I cannot speak for every theme. For example, WordPress 4.4 added some really cool features for responsive images.
If updating the theme does not fix the problem, it's probably time to find a new theme or create your own theme. The ideal option would be to have your own custom WordPress theme development, as custom themes are well-coded, easy to update, and bug-free. You can beat the competition with a custom WordPress theme, especially when it comes to your design and content. You can beat the competition with a custom WordPress theme, especially when it comes to your design and content.
4. Make sure that your site is optimized for performance.
Google has been ranking websites based on page speed for years but starting in July 2018 that also applies to mobile rankings. Considering that over 60% of internet searches are conducted on mobile devices, your site's performance (on every device) is of utmost importance.
The images play a big role in the performance of your site, but so too do your code and your WordPress hosting company.
5. Download and install responsive plugins
A plugin adds functionality to your WordPress site, but they don't necessarily add anything visually to the front end of your site. You should make sure that any physical elements you add to your site work well on all screen sizes or at the very least, give you the option to disable them on smaller screens.
If you decide to buy a plugin, read reviews or watch a demo before making your purchase, and pay attention to the features. If you activate a new plugin, ensure your site is scaling properly across all screen sizes.
A responsive theme and plugins that function well on small screens will allow you to display your site properly on small screens.
Final thoughts
Using a responsive theme will allow every user to access the same website, so there is no need to maintain a separate mobile version. Maintaining a separate mobile version only causes you more work.
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