Think about the last time you visited a website on one of your mobile devices and the experience was terrible. Maybe the font was way too small to read so you needed to zoom in, or maybe it was too hard to tap on a button, or maybe parts of the website didn’t even work!
Responsive website design is one of the most important features of every website, and yet it is the most common need we see here at Worship Times. Responsive website design means that a website can adapt to the size of the screen it is being viewed on to give the user the best experience possible. Think about all of the different screen sizes we have! Everything from smartphones to big monitors need to be optimized.
Does it sounds intimidating? Don’t worry! Here at Worship Times we take care of everything for you. Each of our websites is responsive for any screen size and when issues arise we take care of it! Don’t have a responsive website? Well, it could not be more important to get one today!
It is estimated that close to 70% of web traffic occurs on mobile devices. That is a strong majority. Eight or nine years ago, that number was not nearly as high. However, as the popularity of having a computer in your pocket has grown, the need to support those customers has grown exponentially.
It doesn’t matter how a user gets to your ministry’s website (desktop, tablet, mobile, etc). Once they take the time to visit your website, their experience should replicate their experience within your ministry: simple, elegant, and welcoming.
Imagine running your own business and instead of accepting all forms of payment, you only accept check. Sure, some people still use check for a majority of their purchases, but most people use cash, credit, or debit cards. For those that visit your store and can’t use the most common forms of payment, they will just go next door to the store that makes it more convenient for them.
This simple example gets to the heart of the importance of mobile responsiveness. Is it a requirement to have a working website? No. However, to accommodate all users and to ensure a great experience for all, it is absolutely a necessity.
A responsive website has a multitude of immediate and long-term benefits for both your ministry and its members. Here are just a few:
The biggest – and arguably the most important – improvement that comes from a responsive website is the major improvements it makes for all users. Your users should always be your focus point. Think about that terrible experience you have had with a website on your mobile device and everything that made it terrible. You don’t want your ministry’s website making the same mistakes. Some of the most noticeable changes that a responsive website has on mobile devices is that text is easy to read, buttons are much easier to press, and functionality like forms, slideshows, and videos load and work even faster, and more! It makes working with your website an experience that people will want to do over and over.
Consistency is another important improvement. When you have a small smartphone screen and a desktop computer, everything on your website cannot be formatted and displayed the same. Having a mobile optimized website allows your users to have all of the same functionality in a similar – not identical – format that keeps all of the improvements made to enhance the user’s experience on a smaller screen. Keeping color pallets, fonts, and features identical can also help to make the mobile experience even more inviting.
Having a responsive website for mobile devices can also help to make your website faster! Responsive websites typically load faster because page layouts are typically simpler for users on smaller screens. Mobile devices typically don’t have as strong or fast internet speeds as desktops or laptops either, so well designed responsive websites will use highly optimized versions of videos and images to make sure everything loads quickly. Making sure that your website’s mobile version loads quickly is important, as most users will not wait for your site to load for more than a few seconds – at most.
SEO is incredibly important, and having a mobile responsive website design can further improve your SEO score. Having a highly optimized mobile website actually helps increase your SEO score. All of the benefits of a responsive website including increased readability, decreased loading times, satisfied user experiences, and more are all part of your site’s SEO ranking. Google also lists sites that have a mobile version of their website higher in search results.
Here at Worship Times we will take care of optimizing your responsive website for all devices! Ready to get started? Our team – with tens of years of experience – is only a single click away! Send us a shout today!
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