Message Boards
Today's Active Topics Today's Active Cases Browse Forum Categories My Recent Activity My Messages Private Groups My Marked Threads My Subscriptions
Today's Active Images Today's Active Polls Most Active Topics Global Townie Map Advanced Message Board Search Message Board Terms of Use

Why Your Site Must Be Mobile-Ready in 2016 by Angelina Bice

View Comments (1)
Header: No More Excuses: Why Your Site Must Be Mobile-Ready in 2016
by Angelina Bice

Mention "mobile-readiness" to a group of randomly selected people, and you may get some blank stares. Remind them of the last time they visited a site that wasn't mobile-ready, however, and they'll perk up.

"You mean those sites where you have to pinch and scroll on your phone?" they'll ask. "Those sites where the menus are broken and nothing works right?"

Yes, those. Sites with problems like these are desktop-only, which means they run on coding methods designed back when full-size computer monitors were the only medium through which one viewed a website. Now, as smartphone use increases year-over-year, mobile addiction runs rampant and the world of websites has been forced to adjust.

Fortune recently released an article citing research that shows smartphone and tablet use increased a whopping 117 percent worldwide last year. Furthermore, in the United States, mobile phone use has outstripped desktop use for nearly two years.

It's official—if your site isn't responsive to every screen size, if it isn't intuitive for everyone to use, then it will suffer a fate worse than "looking old." It will be met with disdain by an increasing number of visitors, and actually penalized by Google.

Penalized by Google?
Thanks to Google's "Mobilegeddon" algorithm update last year, mobile-ready sites are given better search rankings than their non-mobile counterparts when the user is searching from a mobile device.

This means that if you don't have a mobile-ready website and your competitor does, you're losing website traffic to them plain and simple. There's no reason to take this kind of chance with your online visibility.

So how do you bring your website up to code for mobile? Generally speaking, you have two options.

Going mobile
The first option is to add a mobile site to work alongside your primary website. This solution enables your website to check whether a visitor is using a mobile device.

If this person is using a mobile device, the site will redirect the visitor to a mobile-optimized version of itself at a separate address which is typically done by adding an "m." before your website domain (for example, "m.doctorsmith.com").

This mobile site is technically a separate website altogether, but will typically display content from your desktop site in its mobile-friendly format.

This technology has been available since 2007, and Google currently considers this an acceptable solution. Keep in mind, however, that it is not their preferred option, which means that those who use a mobile site might not meet Google's requirements in the future. On Google's page for mobile design regulations, the company even states, in bold font, "Responsive design is Google's recommended design pattern."

So what is responsive design? In reality, the phrase "responsive design" just refers to a particular website design method. A responsive website design actually compresses and scales your site for the visitor's screen size. Rather than redirecting that visitor to a second address, like a mobile site, it adapts your website to the visitor's device. You can think of this as collapsible or modular design if we were talking about objects in the real world.

Like a dining table with leaves, a responsive site can be made smaller for a smaller venue or larger for a larger one. For obvious reasons, this is the more elegant solution, and often leads to quicker page load times. Since the average user spends less than 15 seconds on any given website, the user is much more likely to click away if it takes too long for a page to load, and is equally likely to hit the back button if they see your site isn't mobile-ready at all. Don't waste those precious seconds of attention!

So what should I choose?
There's no question that responsive templates are the more robust, future-proof of the two options. You can think of it like buying a car. A used car will cost less, but needs to be replaced sooner while a new car will last longer, but typically costs more.

A responsive website design usually involves updating your entire website from the ground up. If you've already invested a lot of time, money, and energy in your current website, you may want to wait to upgrade to a responsive design. Generally, however, responsive is the better option for the long-term.

Not choosing either a responsive design or a mobile site isn't really an option anymore, and the need for continuing renewal isn't a passing phase. Websites have become such a cornerstone of any growing business that they require upgrades every now and again. Like your car, parts of them become outdated, or their design becomes embarrassingly old-fashioned and impractical after a few years.

The Internet is changing quicker than almost any other part of the world, and these regular tune-ups and updates keep your website useful, relevant, and ahead of the pack.

With a world of people turning more and more to their phones for Internet access, mobile-ready websites are set to make desktop-only websites the horse and buggy in coming years. You want your website to be a sports car—not a hansom cab. Responsive Web Design's Website image

Angelina Bice Angelina Bice is the social and content copywriter for Officite, a provider of websites for dental practices. She manages all social media outlets for Officite, and contributes to Officite's health care marketing blog. She also provides patient education content for Officite clients.



Dentaltown Magazine
October 2025
Dentaltown Magazine October 2025 Read Current Issue Read Archived Issues
Sponsors
Townie Perks
Townie® Poll
Do you place implants in your practice?
  
Site Menu
Message Boards Magazine Continuing Education Podcasts Blogs Classifieds Dental News Events Townie® Poll Ebooks Townie Choice Awards
Company Info
Contact Us Advertise With Us Howard Farran DDS, MBA Policies and Agreements
Site Help
The Dentaltown Team, Farran Media Support
Phone: +1-480-445-9710
Email: support@farranmedia.com
©2025 Dentaltown, a division of Farran Media • All Rights Reserved
9633 S. 48th Street Suite 200 • Phoenix, AZ 85044 • Phone:+1-480-598-0001 • Fax:+1-480-598-3450