What is the difference between a mobile-optimized website and a mobile-enhanced website?

In February 2015, when Google first announced that its now famous “mobilegeddon” ranking algorithm would be implemented in April of that same year, there was a mad scramble on the part of website owners to update the code to ensure that Your websites will work properly on multiple devices, including mobile phones and tablets, to avoid Google penalties.

Now, around 18 months later, we look at how web design and development has been transformed by the increased use of smartphones and tablets and what you should expect from your mobile-friendly website.

Responsive Web Design (RWD) is now an industry standard and there should be no need to ask your designer if your website will be mobile/tablet friendly or not, and although there may still be a handful of amateur design agencies unscrupulous people adding extra money for the ‘privilege’ of having a responsive site most genuine designers just see it as the way websites are designed nowadays.

However, there is a big difference between mobile optimization and mobile enhancement, just like there is a big difference between having just one website and having a search-optimized and user-friendly website.

Many agencies simply release content in a responsive framework just to pass Google’s mobile compatibility test and keep the client happy. I’ll be honest, I’ve seen some really terrible so-called mobile-friendly websites in the last 18 months, each one able to pass Google’s mobile-friendly test but doing little to improve the mobile user experience or attract new business for the website owner.

Much of the problem stems from the plethora of unskilled web design agencies using outdated snippet and drop site building software or third party templates and simply don’t have the coding skills to reorganize and enhance content for websites. mobile users.

What works and looks good on a desktop won’t necessarily work and look good on a mobile phone due to screen size and orientation. A good designer will see your new site on various devices and take into account your niche or type of business and use the site as if it were a client.

Do you want a client or client to be able to call you simply by pressing a button? Then a clickable “call now” button should be visible without scrolling, as should your logo, business name, and navigation menu. Is your text readable on a mobile? Having different font sizes and spacing on a mobile device makes for a much neater site and a better user experience. Simple settings for the mobile phone user can make a big difference.