Google recently announced that it will start incorporating the “mobile friendliness” of a site in its ranking algorithm beginning April 21, 2015. This will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the current ranking of content and represents a breakthrough for the hyperfast-growing mobile user community.  Read on if you are interested in learning why Google made this decision as well as how to assess if your site is ready. 

What has made Google such a successful company is that they have a relentless focus on their search user as a priority over all else.  In their famous Ten things we know to be true, truth number one is “focus on the user and all else will follow.”  All signs point to the fact that users are going mobile at higher rates than ever before and that traffic has high purchase intent.  According to ComScore, smartphones and tablets now account for 60% of all digital time spent in the US. 

You may be asking yourself, “how do I know if my site is ready?”  Currently Google uses a pass/fail methodology that lets you know if your site is “mobile friendly.” Eventually this test will also be able to assess the quality of your mobile execution across platforms.  Take the test here if you want to see how your site is viewed today. 

In the future, brands that have the attention to detail to know exactly how their site is rendering on every device will rank above those that don’t.  To know exactly how your site is rendering you need to test it on real devices.  Emulators tend to be error prone and unreliable.  We use an easy and inexpensive tool called Mobilizer Device Lab to check the current render of our site across all major devices.

Why responsive web design?  First a definition:  Responsive web design is a web development approach that dynamically renders a web site to fit the device it is being rendered on.  It uses flexible layouts and design grids in order to present the appropriate content and image sizing along with orientation for each device.  Any site can go responsive.  From e-commerce to brand sites, from non-profit to education. The key is to understand the mobile use cases for your audience and to make sure you are delivering content accordingly.  While mobile apps and m-dot sites have been an effective solution to serving up mobile websites in the past, they are not sustainable.  Managing multiple experiences is cumbersome meaning that inevitably they become dated.  A responsive approach to web design means a singular experience, updated in one location that provides brand consistency across devices. 

What is the ROI of Responsive Web Design?  This is a question we get all the time.  For me it begs the question of what is the value of a positive customer experience.  Increasingly, your brand’s #1 interaction point is your website.  Every detail matters – your users are developing their impression of your brand with every click and interaction.

I have heard many brands say that they only want to design for the iPhone.  Did you know that Apple has less than 13% share of the global smartphone market?  While it is a critical platform, Android devices represent over 80% share.  While that sounds simple enough, you start to realize that there are 18,796 distinct Android devices running 7 different API levels up from 11,868 devices last year according to Open Signal.   Well-built responsive web sites pay attention to all variants of devices and operating systems to provide users with the best possible experience. Here are the areas where we have seen brands demonstrate ROI:

• Even before Google announced the importance of mobile-friendliness, we have seen sites with a well-done responsive grid perform better in search.  Rarely does Google announce something new that has yet to be tried, so we suspect it has been in the ranking algorithm for some time.  www.smartflourfoods.com is a great example of a site that has been built right and allows users to locate their gluten free pizza and bread products from any device.  In Smart Flour’s case, the ROI of responsive design was increased traffic coupled with improved local product discovery. This led to a 500% increase in inbound inquires about their product.
• E-commerce sites may stand to benefit the most from responsive design.  All e-retailers are seeing a significant increase in their mix of mobile traffic, typically at much lower conversion rates.  www.compactappliance.com tried multiple third-party mobile solutions, all with limited success.  It was not until they moved to a fully responsive grid that they saw dramatically improved results.  In just thefirst week after launch they saw a 20% increase in AOV, 18% drop in bounce rate, and 45% increase in conversion that resulted in a 113% improvement in mobile revenue.  Although the mobile revenue increase was more than enough to justify the project, the biggest benefit came in the form of a 58% increase in inbound sales calls.  The payback period for this project was anamazing 14 days!  If you want to see a clean ecommerce experience across all devices check out this link from Mobilizer Device Lab.  https://app.getmobilizer.com/deviceLab/#/view/jvJa
• Finally, one of the hidden benefits we see with responsive redesigns is that it forces brands to really think about how they sell themselves.  In the mobile-first content model, you start with the key message on the smallest screen and build out as you have additional real estate.  You would be surprised how challenging that can be for brands that have had complex messages in the past.  This process of boiling down to what is really important often results in content and value proposition clarity that can transform the business.   www.lawpay.com is a great example of a business that simplified its message about being the best payment processor solution dedicated to lawyers and has seen an 30% increase in new account sign-up since launching their new site.  They have had the bonus of being able to demonstrate their solution from anywhere and on any device as they teach lawyers about the value of taking credit card payments the right way across platforms. 

 

There are many who view responsive web design as a technology solution.  While there is clearly technology behind it, the best executions are those that rethink the full customer journey from a mobile perspective.  I have spent the last 20 years in digital and can safely say that the shift to mobile is the biggest sea change I have seen.  Brands that embrace it will be the winners and the laggards will fade. 

Springbox is a digital agency that specializes in web design and user experience.

 

 

Favorite