Mobile Web Design & Compatibility

Website On Mobile Device

How your site looks will vary somewhat depending on the size of screen and type of device that people are using when they view your website. In fact, the same website can even look different depending on the browser that the user it viewing it from. For this reason, it is important that your web designer creates a website that is both optimized for different browsers as well as being mobile friendly.

Will Everyone See My Website The Same Way?

First of all it is not important that all of your information is viewed exactly the same way on every browser and device. In fact, in many cases it may not make sense for it to be viewed the same way on different devices. What is important is that your content makes sense in every browser and device and that you provide a positive user experience in every browser and device. If your website does not look right in certain browsers, it is generally due to compatibility issues. As part of our web design services, we make sure that your website looks professional on all platforms. In some cases it may be best to direct some devices – such as phones and tablets – to completely different websites.

Whether you decide to have a separate mobile site or a site that is mobile friendly will depend on your budget as well as you business’s specific needs. Our website designers can help you to determine which choice is best for you.

Creating a mobile version of your site tends to be less costly than redesigning your entire site to be mobile friendly. One of the trade-offs however, is that with a new url, it may not get as good a ranking in search engines as your original site. This is likely to be the case at least in the beginning.
A better solution – especially if you are planning a new design (or redesign) anyway is to build a site that works well on all devices. This can be achieved through either adaptive design or responsive design.

Adaptive Design

This is the more expensive option of the two and is usually the choice of very large companies. With adaptive design, the website detects the type of device that is being used and then adapts itself to be viewed on that device.

Responsive Design

Responsive design is less costly than adaptive design and still works well for most small to medium enterprises. This type of web design uses a technology called Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to create a website that auto-adjusts to the device being used. It works on everything except very old cell phones and is a great choice for many businesses.

Regardless, of which you choose, it is important to have a website that people can easily view and use with their telephones. The amount of online traffic coming from mobile devices has increased dramatically in the past few years and this trend is only likely to increase.
Ensuring that your website is viewable on many types of device will help to ensure that you get good value for your investment.

Learning Center