Responsive WordPress website design is the key to drive more traffic and conversion is not hidden from businesses and designers. Today having responsive WordPress themes has become industry standard due to the increase in the number of mobile users. Your website might be offering products and services that can benefit your site visitors in different ways, but if you are failing to make your WordPress website mobile friendly then it can result in a higher bounce rate and lower conversion.
The reason why today’s businesses look to hire an experienced WordPress web design company is that every experienced professional ensures that businesses get mobile-friendly WordPress websites that drive more revenue and ROI. Undoubtedly selecting responsive WordPress themes should be the priority of every website but it’s not limited to that. To create a WordPress mobile-friendly website one needs to ensure that a very small web design is able to engage users regardless of the screen and devices it is getting viewed.
Mobile and tablets are the two most popular and preferred devices used to perform online searches. That is the reason why it is said no WordPress website today can afford to have a static website design that engages users online on desktop devices. But the question comes down to how to make WordPress mobile-friendly?
If you are scrolling the internet to find the answer for the same then you have added on the right article where we are going to highlight every small detail about how to make a WordPress website mobile friendly and why it’s essential for the business to make a WordPress website mobile friendly.
An Overview Of mobile friendly WordPress website designs
Days are gone when users used to access WordPress websites from the desktop. With the advancement in technology and new devices with different screen sizes getting introduced every year, businesses should look to avoid using a single device website. Today different devices have different screen sizes and shapes, mainly when it comes to handheld devices then mobile is one popular and widely used device to access the internet. That is the reason why it’s important for every website to select the responsive WordPress theme for their website.
The multi-device option is widely adopted by different websites and businesses. Mainly with the increase in the number of mobile devices and mobile users. In the year 2016, there were about 3668 million smartphone users. But if you look at the number in 2021 then the number has increased to 6378 million and by 2026 it is supposed to go beyond 7516 million. Not only that but in 2020 there were 4.28 million unique mobile internet users.
There are a lot of reasons that can tell you why you need to make WordPress websites mobile-friendly by hiring an experienced WordPress web design company. But the numbers mentioned above can convince you to make your WordPress website mobile-friendly right away by hiring experienced professionals. Remember a person using a blackberry mobile may have a different screen size compared to a user making use of an iPhone 12 pro to access your WordPress website design.
A responsive WordPress website ensures that users landing on the website are able to engage with the element inside the website and get the best user experience. The more satisfied users feel while scrolling your WordPress website on mobile devices the easier it will become for you to convert them into paying customers.
Most of the time businesses succeed in selecting a responsive WordPress theme for their website but fail to optimize the visual and other small elements that frustrated site visitors and result in lower traffic and conversion. That is the reason why it’s said when you plan to make your WordPress website mobile-friendly then you need to have a clear idea about where you need to make changes to make the design responsive.
That is the reason why we have created this article or we can say a guide that allows you to get a detailed idea about why you need to make your WordPress website mobile friendly and tips you can consider before making your WordPress website mobile friendly. We will also be offering you a list of responsive themes that you can consider while making your design responsive. SO let’s start by answering one of the basic questions: what is a responsive WordPress website?
If you are looking for the award-winning website design of different years then make sure to check our article on 36 Best Award-Winning Website Designs To Consider in 2021
What is Responsive WordPress Website Design?
A responsive WordPress website design is the approach that ensures every small element responds to different screen sizes and devices. It ensures that the website design is easily accessed regardless of the device it is getting viewed. Making it more simple and descriptive, a responsive WordPress website automatically detects the size of the screen and shifts the size of the layout and the element depending on the resolution of the screen that browser is using.
When you plan to make your WordPress website mobile friendly then it means you are ensuring that every mobile user landing on your website is able to get the same as the desktop user. The main goal behind making a WordPress website responsive is to ensure that users are able to get the best user experience while navigating, screaming, and accusing the content in your website design. Most of the time-poor mobile navigation and scrolling become the primary reason behind bad user experience that leads to low conversion and high bounce rate.
For example, your website might be using an element that splits into different columns when opened on the desktop device. That’s because you get full freedom to utilize the extra space available on the desktop device. But when it comes to mobile devices the same design will look congested and confusing. A responsive website ensures that the element shifts its shape depending on the size of the screen.
By now you must have a detailed idea about what a responsive WordPress website design is. Next, we are going to answer one of the frequently asked questions “Is WordPress mobile friendly?”
Is WordPress mobile-friendly?
Most of you looking to make the WordPress website responsive must be wondering whether WordPress itself is mobile-friendly or not. WordPress is one of the leading Content Management systems (CMS) and website builders that powers 14.7% of the world’s popular WordPress websites and has 60.8% of the CMS market share. There are more than 10000+ developers working at the backend to enhance WordPress functionality. It allows users to create a website design that meets their requirements and offers full support to make the website design highly accessible and responsive.
So yes WordPress is a mobile-friendly platform but the add-ons like theme and plugin can make it difficult for the user to access the website on mobile devices. That is the reason why it is said to carefully select the theme and plugin you wish to integrate into your WordPress website. There are themes and plugins that can enhance the responsiveness of the WordPress website but there are poorly coded themes and plugins that can damage the WordPress website responsiveness.
If you are looking to select the best themes and plugins for your WordPress website then make sure to check our blog on:
10 Best WordPress Themes To Use In 2021
15 Best WordPress Plugins Every User Must Be Using In 2021
11 Best WordPress SEO Plugins To Use In 2021
Why does having a responsive WordPress website design matter the most?
Businesses offering highly effective and helpful products and services often focus on offering a highly attractive website design by adding various visual and graphical elements. These elements can help you to grab desktop users’ attention and encourage them to explore more about the website and business.
But when it comes to mobile devices more graphical elements lead to a poor and confusing user experience. The user experience you create will decide whether the user will convert after loading on your website or not. That is the reason why it’s essential to make your WordPress website mobile-friendly. A report by ComScore states that in the year 2020 (Q2) nearly 31% of the sales took place on mobile devices. Not only that but another report by Statista states that over 51% of the google search visits occurred on mobile devices.
Today nearly half of the internet users are turning to mobile devices to perform their search. When it comes to finding answers for a question or schedule appointments or buying any product/services everything is carried out on mobile devices. If you are failing to make your WordPress website mobile friendly then you are making it difficult for your prospects to find your website and business. Apart from that, you are also reducing the reach of your website and product.
Offering a mobile-friendly WordPress website allows you to create a positive experience that results in a better and optimized business reputation. Besides user experience offering responsive website design enhances your WordPress website accessibility that leads to better traffic and conversion. As we have mentioned earlier that the WordPress website you create and offer acts as the physical extension of your business. By creating and offering a mobile-friendly website you ensure that you are able to deliver a positive experience which will result in creating a strong presence.
Most of the time websites focus on adding more elements with a goal to enhance appearance and engagement. But it turns into the cluttered design on mobile devices that give rise to more bounce rate and a bad reputation. If you are looking to improve your WordPress website conversion then you need to be aware of the fact that the more responsive design you offer the higher chances will be to convert users.
That’s the reason why it’s said a mobile-friendly website can offer benefits to your website and business in different ways. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you need to make your WordPress website mobile-friendly:
1. Increase in mobile users
As we have mentioned earlier the number of mobile users is continuously increasing, if you are ignoring to make your WordPress website mobile friendly then it can harm your website in different ways. A recent report by Statista states that 58% of the American adults make use of the smartphone and nearly 55% of the traffic is generated from mobile devices. If you are failing to offer a responsive WordPress theme then you might end up losing your prospects to your competitor’s website optimized for mobile devices.
Users are continuously searching for different answers and products/services on mobile devices. If your website is not mobile-friendly then you might fail to reach your target audience which may result in lower traffic and conversion. That’s the reason why it is said if you are failing to make your website mobile responsive then you will be doing more harm to your business revenue and ROI.
Apart from that if your mobile users are failing to access your website design from mobile devices then they will not show internet in engaging with on the desktop as well. So if you wonder why you need to make your WordPress website mobile-friendly then remember the number of mobile users is continuously growing. However, if you wish to create a responsive WordPress website for your business then it’s recommended a highly experienced WordPress WordPress website design company. for your website and business.
2. Cost-effective practice
Whether you are aware or not, most businesses starting with a good budget look to create a separate website for mobile devices. If you have the same plan to follow then we recommend sitting back and thinking twice if you are creating the website for the long run. Most of the time websites are easily able to create a mobile website but later on it becomes difficult for them to maintain a separate WordPress website for mobile devices.
Once you create a separate website for mobile users then you need to maintain the website which will increase the maintenance cost. Not only that but you also need to pay for mobile SEO as mobile and desktop have different ranking algorithms. Creating a separate mobile website can increase the cost but if you are able to make your WordPress website mobile friendly then you will be able to save a lot of costs that can be utilized for a different purpose.
By investing in a single site you will also be able to reduce the workload and save a lot of time. You might be starting with a good budget but you can’t predict the future ups and downs. Instead of investing the money to create a separate mobile website, you can utilize the same money in increasing the reach of your website, acquiring more customers, and many more.
So if you wonder why you need to make your WordPress website mobile responsive then remember it helps in trimming down the extra cost and also allows you to save time.
3. Offers flexibility
When you have a single responsive website to maintain then you can make changes in your website quickly and easily without facing a lot of trouble. Businesses having two websites need to look at both while making every small change in the content or in the design. For instance, if you published an article in the past and wish to make changes, then you can easily do it by visiting the WordPress dashboard of the desktop website and mobile website.
But what if you have to make changes in the link on all the publications then you have to do the same work for both desktop and mobile websites. The same goes for the design or the element in your WordPress website. These types of repeated activities are time-consuming and frustrating as well. But if you are making your website mobile-friendly then flexibility over the website will make it easy for you to make small and major changes to your website design. In short, we can say you just have to make changes in your website design only at once.
4. Improve website UX (user experience)
As we have mentioned multiple times that the user experience of the website is depending on the website responsiveness. If you wish every user to stay on your website design then it’s recommended to offer the best user experience which can be only achieved when you create and offer responsive web design to your audience. By offering a better user experience you are able to create a sense of trust that encourages the user to perform the desired action. While there are a number of things that go into creating a great user experience like the navigation of your website, element placement, and more , responsiveness always comes on the top in the list.
Users landing on your website through mobile devices should get the same experience as desktop users in terms of accessing the website design and the element inside it. MOts of the time WordPress websites are able to create a great user experience but when it comes to mobile devices most of the users leave the website with disappointment. That is the reason why earlier we recommended displaying the visual in a way that makes it easy for the mobile users to interact with the design.
When it comes to making the WordPress website mobile-friendly then you can look into elements like the CTA button, text, images, and many more. Making your WordPress website responsive will not only allow you to enhance user experience but also make your website and business look professional. So if you wonder why it’s essential to have a mobile-friendly WordPress website then remember it helps in offering an optimized user experience. But to create a responsive and lucrative website design it’s always recommended to hire an experienced WordPress website design company that can help you to create a highly attractive and conversion-centric website design for your business.
5. Increase your WordPress website and product reach
Once you are able to improve your website responsiveness and user experience, you will be able to make your product reach the maximum audience. If you know how the match is so clear, if you are able to make your WordPress website mobile friendly then you can target mobile users as well which will help you to increase the reach of your product and services. As we have mentioned earlier, most of the users have started to access websites from mobile devices. That is the reason why mobile and tables have become the main or most crucial forces that help in driving traffic to the website.
If you are failing to offer a response the same then you are harming your website as well as your business. Most of the websites that are able to drive website traffic ignore focusing on mobile design. If you are doing the same then you should know that every website is focusing on making its design responsive. If your competitors are successfully able to rank their website on the mobile search results then you might start losing your existing traffic and customers.
On the other hand, if you are able to make your WordPress website mobile friendly then you might be able to double or triple your existing traffic with a goal to increase the reach of your website and products/services. So if you wonder why you need to make your design responsive then remember it helps in increasing the reach of your product and services.
6. Better ranking in mobile searches
A mobile-friendly WordPress website can offer you a lot of benefits, one among them in getting a better ranking in mobile searches. If you are running your website for a long time or have optimized your website for SEO then you must be aware of the fact that desktop ranking differs from mobile ranking. If your website is getting top position in desktop search results then it is not essential that your ranking will be the same in the mobile searches. That is the reason why responsiveness has become one of the major ranking factors that allow websites to rank better in mobile services.
Your website might be optimized for SEO like the presence of metadata, alt text, and more. But if your website is not responsive then google will never recommend your website by ranking it on the top in mobile searches. Google, one of the leading search engines, clearly states that if a website wishes to rank on the top in the search engine result page the design needs to be responsive, easily accessible, and most importantly user friendly. By making your WordPress website mobile-friendly you will be able to make your SEO campaign more effective and result-driven.
The search engine makes use of the different ranking algorithms for the mobile version, by making your WordPress website design responsive you will be able to indicate to Google that your website is ready for mobile users. OS if you want to make your WordPress website mobile friendly then remember it helps in getting better baking in the search engine result page.
7. Helps in improving conversion and sales
If you’re able to make your WordPress website design responsive then it will allow you to get a better ranking and create an optimized user experience. If users landing on your website feel satisfied and the design is able to create a sense of trust then they will not hesitate to become your paying customer.
The mobile conversion is dependent on a number of factors such as the placement of elements, the visuals you are using, content, and more. But before site visitors start engaging with the design they should be able to find your website upon that the design should encourage them to explore more about the website and product/services. Then only you can expect your site visitors to become your paying customers.
You might spend a lot of money on creating attractive visuals with the goal to drive more conversion. But if the visual is falling to grab a mobile visitor’s attention then all your efforts can go in vain. That is the reason why it’s recommended to create a responsive WordPress website design that allows you to convert site visitors into paying customers.
If you are looking to create a highly responsive WordPress website design that grabs site visitor’s attention and encourages them to become your paying customer then it’s always recommended to hire an experienced website design company for your website and business.
8. Shopping on mobile devices is continuously growing
Not to mention but the number of mobile shoppers is continuously increasing. Today more than half of the internet users are making use of smartphones to make purchases online. The Internet has made it possible for users to shop for the desired product and services from anywhere. Undoubtedly earlier desktops used to be the primary choice for the user to make purchases online. But with the increase in the number of mobile devices every shopper today prefers to shop online from their mobile devices.
Or in other words, we can say shoppers have become addicted to using mobile devices to shop online. If your website is failing to offer a responsive WordPress website then you might be losing a lot of your prospects to your competitor’s website. If the product inside your ecommerce website is difficult to access then the user will not show interest in engaging with your website design. Instead, they will simply abandon your website and look for some other options.
No matter how helpful and effective your products are for the user you need to ensure that the website design you are offering makes it easy for the user to access every small element regardless of the screen it is getting viewed. So if you are looking to know why you need to make your WordPress website mobile friendly then remember mobile shoppers are continuously increasing.
By now you must be having a detailed idea about why you need to make your WordPress website mobile-friendly. Next, let’s take a look at how you can make your WordPress website mobile-friendly.
How to make WordPress Website Mobile-friendly?
1. Select a Responsive WordPress Themes
The first and foremost thing that we recommend you to look into is selecting the right and responsive theme for your WordPress website. If you have recently installed a new theme for your WordPress website then you might be in a safe zone when it comes to website responsiveness. But if you are running a WordPress theme for a long time then you need to check with the provider whether the recent update includes responsiveness or not.
If there are any pending updates available for the existing WordPress theme then you can check the compatibility of the WordPress version and the current version of the theme in the staging site. Because today every WordPress theme update contains a mobile-friendly element that may solve your responsiveness issues. But still, if you are failing to make your WordPress website mobile-friendly then you need to look for other options.
When it comes to WordPress websites businesses always have two options either to create a custom-coded WordPress website design with the help of an experienced WordPress website design company or to download a pre-build WordPress theme. While businesses that are aware of why they need to hire a WordPress website design company always look to select an experienced professional. While there are many businesses with low budgets that opt for pre-built themes.
If you are planning to select the WordPress theme then it’s always recommended to opt for a responsive WordPress theme. WordPress offers a huge library of themes that makes it difficult for the user to select one for their website. That’s the reason why it’s recommended to get a detailed idea about the features and other advantages of using that particular theme. If the provider is failing to offer a responsive theme then you can look for other options.
When selecting a responsive WordPress theme you can test the demo and read the reviews about the theme to identify whether it’s right for your website or not. If you have any hesitation related to the theme or if the theme is failing to meet your expectations then you can always look for other options. But make sure you are selecting a mobile responsive WordPress theme for your website.
2. Select responsive plugin for your WordPress website
The same theme, WordPress offers you access to a huge library of plugins that can be used to enhance the WordPress website functionality. While it’s true that every WordPress plugin does not add any visual element to the front end. But in some cases, WordPress plugins are used to add some of the physical elements in the front end like the CTA, table, and more. If you’re downloading such kinds of plugins to add these physical elements then you need to ensure that it scales well on different screen sizes. Or offers an option where you can easily disable the lament for the smaller screens.
If the plugin is failing to offer both then you should always look for another plugin as WordPress offers a huge library of plugins to the users. Most of the time adding a sidebar in your website design can enhance its functioning and appearance for desktop users but when it comes to a mobile website the design might look confusing and there are high chances that it might not fit well with the small screen. This way your website will end up creating a bad user experience that will result in low traffic and conversion.
So when you select the plugin for your WordPress website then it’s always recommended to look at the features offered by the plugin. Apart from that, you can also look at the reviews of the plugin to ensure that you are selecting the best ones that help in making your WordPress website mobile-friendly. Whenever you activate any plugin in your WordPress website then it’s always recommended to do the quality check for better performance and results. You can also make use of the staging site to ensure that your live website design does not come across any issues.
If you are looking to select the best WordPress plugin for your website then we recommend you to check our blog on 11 Best WordPress SEO Plugins To Use In 2021
3. Make your website design touch-responsive
When it comes to making a WordPress website responsive then you need to ensure that the design you are offering is touch responsive. Well, today it’s not only about smartphones but watches and laptops have also started to offer touchscreen which makes it essential for WordPress websites to make their design touch responsive. This way you will allow site visitors to perform any kind of action regardless of the devices your website is getting viewed.
Most of the time CTA and forms inside the website fail to perform on the touch screen which frustrates users and discourages them to take action on the website. That is the reason why it’s recommended to ensure that the CTA button size is large enough so that users are easily able to take action on your website. Mainly when it comes to places of the element then you need to make use of the screen in a strategic way so that buttons and other elements are easily visible and accessible.
Many users get convinced with the information and design offered by the website but fail to take action on the CTA because of the poor placement and size of the element. Mainly when it comes to forms then you might be offering a drop-down option to make the form fill-up process easier for users. But many times users fail to access the option inside the form from smaller devices. By making your website touch-responsive you ensure that users are easily able to access every small piece of information and element regardless of the screen it is getting opened.
4. Decide which element to showcase on small screens
As we have mentioned earlier, most of the plugins have started to offer an option where you can disable the element for the mobile screen. You can always make use of this feature to make your website design responsive by restricting some of the elements that are not appropriate for small devices.
Most of the WordPress site owners think that making a design responsive means replicating every element of the desktop website in the mobile website. If you think the same then you need to reconsider your thinking because when you plan to make your website design responsive then you get to decide the element you wish to add to your mobile website.
For example, the sidebar present in the desktop version might look confusing on the mobile website so you can plan to remove that. In the same way, you can look to remove other options that you feel might harm your mobile website user experience. Because the ultimate goal behind making a website responsive is to ensure that users are able to get the best user experience. By eliminating a few elements if you are able to create the best user experience then you should always go for it.
But before that, you need to identify the most important and less important elements in your website. If you end up removing the important element then you might fail to accomplish the desired goal. Most of the time sidebar, horizontal navigation menus, and visual elements are the element that most websites look to remove or change.
So when it comes to creating a mobile-friendly website then you can always look to remove unwanted elements from the mobile website design. If you need further help related to making the website design responsive then you can always look to hire an experienced WordPress web design company for your website and business.
5. Ignore adding pop-ups the mobile devices
Most of the websites look to build a strong email list so that they can target their site visitors if they fail to convert or make a purchase from the website. Pop-ups are widely used by the different websites to highlight some incentive with a goal to get site visitors to contact information like email id. While pop-ups might help some of the websites to get site visitors’ attention but when it comes to mobile devices then users might get frustrated and leave your website without even looking at what your website is offering.
Mostly pops that forces users to take action to create the worst user experience that leads to a bad reputation for your website and business. Google has also started to penalize the website that covers the content inside the website visitor’s design. If your website is offering these kinds of pops in the mobile devices immediately or after the user spends some time on the web page then there are high chances of getting penalized from the search engine.
That is the reason why we recommend you avoid adding popups to make your WordPress website mobile-friendly. Even if you wish to add the pop then make sure site visitors are easily able to close it or disable the pop us. This way you will be able to allow users to decide whether they want to engage with the pop-up you are offering on your mobile website.
6. Optimize your media element for small screens
Whether you are running a standard website or an ecommerce website, one important element that can decide the responsiveness of your website design is the media on your site. Most of the time it becomes the primary reason that impacts website responsiveness. Whether you are using images or graphics in your WordPress website make sure your mobile users are able to get the same experience as the desktop users.
Because adding larger images and graphics might look good on desktop devices but it’s not essential that it will look great on mobile devices as well. If the media element fails to scale correctly on a mobile device then it will become difficult for the user to engage with the design which will lead to lower traffic and conversion. When it comes to making WordPress websites mobile-friendly then we recommend you to make the media element inside your website design responsive.
If you feel that scaling the media element leads to poor web design then you can look to hide it from a mobile device, so that users are able to get the best experience regardless of the device your website is getting viewed on. Apart from that, you can also look into the size of the media element as it will not only enhance the mobile experience but ensure that your website loads faster on the desktop. Because media files are comparatively larger than the other element size, there are high chances that uploading large files can lead to slow website speed.
So when it comes to making your WordPress website mobile-friendly then it’s always recommended to pay close attention to the media element in your web design. When optimizing the media file for mobile responsiveness you can look to add smaller file keeping quality as the first priority.
7. Get in touch with experts
While all the above-mentioned points can help you to make your website design responsive and there are more things that you need to look into while making your WordPress website mobile-friendly. But it’s not essential that you will be able to identify every small element that can potentially damage your website responsiveness.
Today businesses have started to avoid freelancers and in-house web design teams because of the poor result that most of the websites get after website design or redesign. So the question comes down to how to make a WordPress website mobile-friendly. When it comes to creating a better user experience on different devices then it’s always recommended to get in touch with experienced WordPress website design professionals.
Hiring an experienced professional helps you to identify every small mistake that can damage the user experience of your website. You might be creating and offering a helpful product to your customers but small mistakes in design can take away the effectiveness of the product and business.
By hiring a professional for your website you ensure that every small element on your website is presented in a way that encourages the user to explore more about the product/services and become a paying customer. Not only that but getting your website designed by experienced hands will allow you to create a design that drives more revenue and ROI. So if you wish to create a mobile-friendly WordPress website design then it’s always recommended to hire an experienced website design company for your website and business.
Conclusion
By now you might have a detailed understanding of how you can make your WordPress website responsive. With the increase in the number of mobile users, it has become essential for websites and businesses to create and offer mobile-friendly WordPress websites. There are a number of things that you need to consider while making your website mobile-friendly right from making media elements responsive to every small button on your website design.
Undoubtedly WordPress offers a number of plugins and themes using which you can make your design responsive website. But these plugins are not capable of making every small element in your website design responsive. That is the reason why most businesses look to hire an experienced website design company for their business.
SFWP Experts is a highly reputed award-winning WordPress website design company working with highly experienced professionals that can help you to create a highly attractive and lucrative website design that person will use on every device. Our professionals have more than 10 years of experience in the WordPress website design industry and have helped more than 500 businesses with highly responsive and conversion-centric website design. If you wish to have a website design that helps you to accomplish the desired goal and generate higher ROI then you can get in touch with our experts.