Mobile Friendliness And Responsiveness : The Differences (+Examples)

Mobile-Friendly versus Responsive: mobile-friendly is a different version of a website that is shown to mobile users. Responsive means the website design is formatted to its ideal fit for the screen it’s on. Responsive is ideal and Google recognizes both as being optimized for the mobile user. Think of mobile-friendly as a step between nothing at all and a responsive site.

• Create a mobile-first experience through responsive design
• CTAs focused on mobile users (e.g. location and contact information)– what a user is looking for on mobile is different than what they are likely looking for on desktop. It also affects their checkout time availability.
• Content that is based on what a mobile user would be looking for. For instance, they may not want to view blog posts first if it’s an informative website about a local business– they are more likely to be looking for a phone number, address, reviews, and other info that allows them to make a decision “on the go” about the business (e.g. whether or not to go there versus its competitors).

The basics of an effective copy are:

• Clear: the purpose of the copy should instantly be understandable. For instance, “We offer air conditioning units to restaurants and hotels” is clear, versus “Our top-of-the-line system offers the highest possible AC performance for your hospitality business.”
• Enticing: the copy should pique the user’s interest. It should make them curious to complete the CTA or learn more about the offering. For instance, “We offer award-winning, certified air conditioning units to restaurants and hotels. No other competitors offer our same 10-year warranty.” is much more interesting, versus “Our top-of-the-line air conditioners are perfect for your restaurant or hotel.” You must explain why in an intriguing way to get your point across.
• Unique: be sure to point out how your products, services, and what you offer is different than your competitors. Be specific. How does what you offer to stand out from everyone else? For instance, “We stand behind our restaurant and hotel air conditioning units. No other competitors offer our same 10-year warranty.” versus “We outperform our competitors with our air conditioning units.”

Each website page should:

• Be easy to read through proper website design and layout: the layout should be intuitive and not make it difficult to read the content and interact with the website. The design and layout should have the sole focus of making the experience easy and seamless for the user.

• Be easy to find through proper website architecture and optimization: the user should immediately be able to find what they are looking for in a few clicks. Some designers and developers follow the three-click rule, which means a user should be able to find whatever they are looking for on a website within three taps or clicks (essentially 3 pages). This is disputed though– see references below for more insight.

• Be easy to understand through proper website content and layout: as mentioned in the previous slides, a copy needs to be easy to understand but keep up the user’s interest at the same time. Be specific and don’t overwhelm the user with too much information that users aren’t actually interested in. Most users only care about what is directly important to them, so cater to their needs.

• Include a call-to-action on each page: on every blog post and content, the page includes a call-to-action that is directing the user to complete a conversion or go to a related page with more information. For instance, if there was a landing page that was about a specific air conditioning model for pizza restaurants, your conversion could be completing an appointment form for a sales call or a contact form to request a pricing estimate for a specific business.

• Pages work together: pages with similar content should link together in a logical way to be as effective as possible.