When it comes to website design on the Sunshine Coast we know it has to be mobile-friendly, especially now that Google is rolling out Mobile-First Indexing. Remember, the majority of internet users now search on a mobile device and half of all local mobile searches are for local business information.
But is responsive web design (RWD) on the Sunshine Coast enough to get your business noticed and attract customers?
There are a few things we know for certain. For example, your website needs to be fast to load and easy to navigate. We also know that creating a standalone mobile site is not a good idea when it comes to SEO.
Cost Effective Solutions
RWD has the solutions to these issues and more. It's a cost-effective way to optimise your website for mobile search. It's easy to use and fairly easy to design. But we are still seeing errors on mobile websites, including clunky navigation and poor graphical interfaces.
The thing is, Responsive Web Design alone is pretty old school now; even if you've only just caught up with the concept! The first website to use a layout that could adapt to browser viewport width was designed for Audi in 2001. In the website world that's a lifetime ago.
But that doesn't mean we do away with it, we just have to adapt it to meet the new demands on website design on the Sunshine Coast. One way to do that is to add higher-speed configurations such as accelerated mobile pages (AMP) and progressive web applications (PWA).
Increased Engagement
Believe it or not, over two billion AMP pages have been published around 900,000 domains. Big name brands like eBay are reporting impressive results and increased engagement from making the switch. Add to that the fact that Google openly prioritises AMP pages and you've got a winner.
Why is speed important? Because more than half of website visits are abandoned if pages take too long to load.
So what about PWAs? This technology is pretty smart, to say the least. PWAs are accessed via the web browser and use HTML, as well as CSS or Javascript, to load pages at lightning speed. PWAs offer many benefits, including universal access on all devices and the ability to work offline.
Clicks to Conversions
PWAs are particularly good for eCommerce sites as they will speed up page loading and checkout and offer an altogether better user experience. They are also being shown to increase engagement and conversions.
At the end of the day, it really comes down to how serious you are about your website design on the Sunshine Coast and the size of your budget. In short, you have to spend money to make money; the faster and more mobile-friendly your site is, the more users you'll attract leading to increased engagement and sales.
It's not rocket science, it's common sense; the days of the DIY 'she'll be right' website are well and truly over. If you're serious about the long-term success of your business it's time to talk to a professional web solutions company.