A mobile website. It’s all true. No longer a bunch of hype. If you don’t have one already, you need one now.
Why? Google says so and will penalize you if you don’t!
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to tell whether or not a site was mobile friendly on your smartphone before you even clicked on the link to go to the site?
Now there is!
Google Search has decided to let users know whether or not a website is mobile friendly by including a notification to that effect right in mobile search results. Check out Search on your smartphone.
The Stats You Should Know
80% of local searches for products or services are now done on mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). 46% of all searches are now done on mobile devices.
Your Competitive Edge with A Mobile Website
If you’re a business owner with a website not optimized for display on mobile devices, this is a huge incentive to become mobile friendly. No brainer.
Say you have a great looking site that has always been popular with visitors and your nearest competitor also has a great website. The mobile friendly designation from Google Search may be that crucial factor.
What does it take to make a site worthy of the Google mobile friendly designation?
Google provides resources on what is required in a mobile friendly site. Click here:
https://developers.google.com/webmasters/mobile-sites/
What the “Mobile-friendly” label could Mean for you
The Good – If your site earns Google’s new “Mobile-friendly” designation, you might be rewarded with a ranking boost.
The Bad – Last year Google introduced a penalty for sites providing a bad mobile search experience. Sites generating errors and other problems for mobile visitors received less visibility in Google’s smartphone results.
The Ugly – Plus Google has now added Mobile Usability reports to its Webmaster Tools. They will provide a detailed report for each error found on a company’s website.
So Google now considers mobile usability relevant for optimal search results.
So your mobile search ranking may be at stake 🙁
What To Do About It?
That depends on the amount of mobile traffic that you may be losing.
While it’s difficult to know how many people simply “never visit” because of this new notification in Google search results, you can check your Google Analytics for the amount of mobile traffic that is coming in. This can at least give you an idea of the number of people that are stopping by and having a “less than optimal visit” if you’re not providing a mobile-friendly experience.
Checking this statistic is simple, if you know where to find it. Just get logged in to your Google Analytics account and go to Audience > Mobile > Overview and that will give you the stats .
If you’re interested in a mobile-friendly website, contact Marcia Coffey @ 561-906-3436. We can work together to come up with a fantastic website viewable on all the devices.
Archives for December 2016
Genesis Web Designer. Minimalist Theme.
Every Genesis web designer favors this point of view: “Everything should be as simple as possible, but never simpler,” said Albert Einstein!
In my day we called it “classic”. It always meant “timeless”. It always implied “simple and beautiful”. Great beauties like Katherine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn come to mind. A string of white pearls on a sweater. No adjectives required.
That’s it, too. Fewer words were needed to sum up what are feelings, and cannot and need not be described. Because you just know. There is great power in just getting to the meat of the matter immediately. No waste.
Who has the time anyway?
Which brings me to the meat of this matter which is Minimalist Web Design and StudioPress Themes.
Big fans of minimalist design, StudioPress has recently launched various minimalist child themes, mobile responsive and upgraded for Genesis 2.0. Minimalism at its smartest, Modern Portfolio Theme and the Brunch Pro theme are just some of those themes with the perfect layout for displaying work online, building your brand, and ultimately converting visitors into customers.
We see minimalist design all around : a modern phone, looking at a slick brochure or other graphically-presented information, sitting in a simple living space on a sleek sofa, and so forth.
With its roots in the “Less is more” catch phrase of architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe … what is minimalist web design anyway?
It’s Where Every Detail Counts
In a minimalist design, every detail has significance. Details such as the mix of typography, a border around an image, subtle colored boxes, the color palette, the white space, every part becomes important to the overall look and feel of the website when the elements are few.
Where Color Is Critical
Color takes on added significance in a minimalist design. Choosing the right palette or accent colors is vital. Many designers opt for a simple black, white and/or gray palette, but minimalism has room for any color in the rainbow
And White Is For Emphasis
White space is critical to emphasizing certain elements over others. White space “makes” a design minimalist to a large extent.
Big typography is often used in place of images to add more graphic interest to a website.
The best part about minimalism in web design is that it comes in many styles, colors and sizes, but always with the same goal in mind – saying the most while saying the least.
Now that web design is changing print design as we speak, we may start to see minimalist design in newspapers and magazines. As a reader of The New York Times for the last 100 years, I can already see the impressive changes of the Times’ graphics and major imagery. Who knows what the next 100 will bring?
– By Marcia Coffey
Find Marcia on Google+
Call Marcia @ 561.906.3436.
Follow @jmgroupdesign