As a startup that is hustling to make it big, you need to do everything in your power to stand out from the herd. And since your online presence will help you achieve this feat, you must invest in a stellar responsive website. In addition to that, you need the right domain name, the best theme, and display all the necessary information about your business. 

Now you may wonder why having a responsive website is such a big deal. This article is designed to address that bumbling thought. Read on!

Do you have a responsive website?

“Responsive” is the term used to describe a website that is designed to display appropriately across all device types. Since people browse websites on a host of devices such as smartphones, smart tablets, car infotainment systems, and even smartwatches, it is essential for your startup to invest in a responsive website that is device agnostic and offers a seamless brand and user experience across all devices.

To check if your website is responsive and mobile-friendly, there is the easy “Mobile-First Test”, provided by Google. Just type in the full URL of your web page and press the “run test” button. In less than a minute, you will get the necessary insights and information concerning the mobile performance of your website, along with a screenshot of how it looks to Google on a mobile device. This is a good place to start from if you are not familiar with the code. First, you check, and then, of course, you look for a good developer to fix the issues arose.

In case you know how to code, then one of your best choices would be Chrome DevTools. As you may be aware, this is a set of web developer tools built directly into Chrome, the most popular browser at the time. Go ahead and use the Device Mode that lets you stimulate a mobile viewport and geolocation, throttle the network and the CPU etc.

Another really useful tool for testing your website is CrossBrowserTesting. Through its testing platform, you can do live cross-browser testing on your website, and also swipe and interact on iOS & Androids. Last but not least, BrowserStack is also a good option. It provides instant access to 2000+ real mobile devices and browsers, live testing etc.

Why opt for a responsive website?

Let’s deep dive into the top reasons why you need a mobile-friendly responsive website for your startup.

Mobile dominates internet use

Mobile devices account for more than 60% of the digital time in the majority of global markets, according to Comscore. In 2019, the number of mobile phone users is forecast to reach 4.68 billion, according to Statista. And now let’s be honest: all this data is not surprising at all.

There is always a mobile phone around you, used or ready to be used for browsing around the internet. So, this is the number one reason you need to make your web page to be mobile-friendly. At Papaki, we see our mobile visitors progressively increase and we do our best to make their experience awesome.

User experience

Experience matters, sometimes more than the product/service itself. Create a unique environment for your mobile visitors so as to gain a better reputation and encourage them to come back to you. Imagine browsing a website which has really small fonts, content wider than the screen or clickable elements too close together. Wouldn’t you bounce from it?   

Google prioritization

Another significant reason why you should opt for a responsive website is that Google loves web pages that do care for their mobile visitors. Actually, earlier this year it has started migrating sites that follow the best practices for mobile-first indexing.

In the words of Google, “Mobile-first indexing means that we’ll use the mobile version of the page for indexing and ranking, to better help our – primarily mobile – users find what they’re looking for. We continue to have one single index that we use for serving search results. We do not have a “mobile-first index” that’s separate from our main index. Historically, the desktop version was indexed, but increasingly, we will be using the mobile versions of content”.

Contributed by: Papaki Blog.

Papaki Blog is the corporate blog of Papaki, the no1 domain registrar in Greece. It was launched in 2010, hosting articles written in greek. In 2015 it was enriched with English content. Marieta Christopoulou is currently the content editor of Papaki Blog!