Smartphones are one of the most revolutionary inventions of this generation. It has given people the ability to stay connected to the internet even when on the go, and this has changed the online marketing and SEO landscape by leaps and bounds.
According to Google, smartphones and mobile devices are changing consumer behaviour and the digital landscape overall. Especially since the number of smartphones in a household is surpassing the number of personal computers over the years. And with the trend likely to remain the same, having a mobile-friendly website is now more crucial than ever.
Desktop Website
Ever since the internet became easily accessible to everyone globally, having a desktop website is a crucial foundation for any company or brand’s digital marketing. It has become a brand’s flagship in the online world so that consumers and potential clients can easily find them. Without a well-optimised desktop website, your brand’s visibility online will end up in the internet’s dark void beyond the SERP’s first page.
And even when smartphones are dominating the market and people are beginning to access the web through smartphones, having a desktop-friendly website is still important if you want to maximise your visibility in the online market and get quality traffic that can easily be converted into clients or subscribers.
Having a desktop version of your website means you can add more content that you don’t have on your mobile website. This includes videos, pictures, blog content, and even order and contact forms that you cannot upload on your mobile site due to the site’s limitations.
Mobile-Friendly Sites
Despite the growing trend of “smartphones as the new laptop”, many businesses still don’t think having a mobile-friendly site matters and will not give them an edge in the online market. And the extra expense that they will put in for mobile Optimization would be of better use in increasing their online presence and improving their desktop website.
While this might still be a good idea for now, it won’t be for long. Thanks to Google’s “mobile-first indexing” algorithm, Google has begun recognising mobile-friendly websites as a statistic of ranking, especially since there is a big difference between the capabilities of a desktop and mobile.
Mobile-friendly websites are those websites specifically made to fit in a smartphone’s small screen and can function properly without compromising the speed and quality of user experience.
Google now looks at the availability of such websites when raking websites for SERPs, and gives a plus boost when you have a working mobile-friendly version of your desktop website.
Mobile Optimization Vs. Desktop Optimization
Because both desktop and your mobile-friendly website have their own limitations and capabilities, the way they are optimised is different from one another. And knowing the difference can make or break your online visibility in both smartphone and desktop.
Mobile Optimization- The goal of mobile Optimization is simple: keep the website as small as possible and running as fast as possible. Studies have shown that load speed and web-design are crucial for mobile Optimization, and that having a slow mobile website can lose you almost half of your potential clients.
Surveys have shown that mobile users stay up to at least 6 seconds before leaving a website and not coming back. This means that your website needs to completely load within six seconds, or else you lose clients to competitors who give their visitors more attention. This means less content, and fewer chances to do SEO for search ranking.
Desktop Optimization – Unlike mobile Optimization, desktop Optimization isn’t limited by a small screen and slower processing power.
Though page load time is still an important factor in desktop website Optimization, you can stack up more webpages without sacrificing your load time. This means you have better chances of doing SEO as you have more space for content and keyword placement that will help you rank in the search result pages.
This means optimising your desktop website should be geared towards better SEO ranking and gaining visibility within the first two pages of SERPs. This can be done by adding quality content relevant to your targeted keywords, keeping your website updated, and giving your visitors a good user experience.
Get Optimised!
With technology growing leap and bounds on yearly basis, it’s only a matter of time until we see the next technological revolution that could leave the desktop obsolete. But until that time, maximising your desktop and mobile-adapted website’s presence through proper Optimization is crucial in the highly competitive arena of online marketing.
Being competitive online should be your main goal if you are planning your digital marketing efforts. If you’re looking to better improve your digital marketing, make sure to hire a competitive team of SEO specialists to help you.
