As smart phone and tablet acceptance has speedily increased, importance of mobile-friendly websites has also increased. If SEO is a center part of your digital marketing strategy, having a mobile–friendly website is becoming essential.
Mobile sales have already passed desktop sales, and it is obvious that mobile search will overtake desktop search in future. Since 67% users claim they are more likely to purchase from a mobile-friendly website, companies that rely on SEO are wise to begin making the transition to mobile-friendly websites, and responsive web design specifically.
If SEO is a factor, here are three reasons why responsive web design is the best option for your mobile SEO strategy.
1. Recommended By Google
With 67% search market share, when Google speaks, search marketers listen. Google states that responsive web design is its recommended mobile configuration, and rates responsive web design as the industry best practice. This is because responsive design sites have one URL and the same HTML, regardless of device, which makes it easier and more efficient for Google to crawl, index, and organize content.
In addition to that, Google prefers responsive web design because content that lives on one website and one URL is much easier for users to share, interact with, and link to than content that lives on a separate mobile site. Google is now placing on user-experience as a ranking factor, this is essential to take into account with regards to SEO.
2. One Website, Many Devices
One of the most tempting aspects of responsive web design is that a responsive website can provide a great user-experience across many devices and screen sizes. A site that works well despite of these variables will provide a better and more consistent user-experience than a separate mobile site that is designed for a precise device and screen size.
For example, someone searches for a product on their smart phone during a lunch break at work. They find a site that has the product they’re looking for, and decide to continue researching this product on the same site when they get home from their desktop. If the site is responsive, this person will have a positive user-experience when transitioning from mobile to desktop because they will view the same site on their desktop as they did on their smart phone. On the other hand, if the site is a dedicated mobile site, this person will become frustrated with the fact that they have to locate the desktop version of the site, and find the product all over again.
3. Easier to Manage
Having a separate desktop and mobile site requires having separate SEO campaigns. Managing one site and one SEO campaign is far easier than managing two sites and two SEO campaigns. This is a key advantage a responsive website has over a separate mobile site.
