Does my website really need to be responsive?
Yes, it does. Most customers visit on their phones, and Google judges sites by how they look on a phone. Here is what responsive means and how to check it.
A responsive website changes its layout to fit the screen, whether you open it on a phone, tablet or computer. Since most customers visit a shop's website on their phones, it is a basic, not an option. Every website ISSYMO builds is responsive.
Why is it a basic?
- Customers come on their phones. Almost everyone who arrives by tapping a link on Naver, Instagram or KakaoTalk is on a phone.
- Google judges by the phone screen. Google reads and ranks websites based on how they appear on a phone. If your site breaks on a phone, you lose out in search too.
- Call and booking buttons have to work. If buttons are tiny or overlap on a phone, customers just leave.
How to check whether a site is responsive
Make your computer's browser window narrow. If text gets cut off or a sideways scroll bar appears, it isn't responsive. On a phone, check that you can read the text without pinching to zoom and that buttons are big enough to tap with your thumb. Also check that tapping the phone number starts a call right away.
It's not the same as a "mobile-only page"
In the past, sites sometimes made a separate phone-only address starting with "m.". Today the standard is responsive design, where one address simply changes the layout. With a single address it's better for search, and when you make changes you only make them once.
Look at it on your phone first, then again on a computer. Do it the other way around and the phone screen becomes an afterthought.