When the internet first became widely used (in the mid-to-late 90's), websites were being created left and right, and no attention was given to design or accessibility, because graphics were pretty limited at that time and cellphones weren't equipped to connect to the web yet. As time went on, though, we began to use our phones less for calling and more for surfing the internet. It's now estimated that approximately 95% of adult ages 18-40 in the U.S. have a smartphone, and that smartphone is used to connect to the internet. If you decide to ignore mobile responsiveness on your website, you are effectively shutting out most of your possible customer base.
According to Wikipedia,
"Responsive web design (RWD) or responsive design is an approach to web design that aims to make web pages render well on a variety of devices and window or screen sizes from minimum to maximum display size to ensure usability and satisfaction"
Ease of Use for Customers
If a customer is on their smartphone and looking for a hardware store, do you think that they are going to choose the hardware store that has a clean, modern site with easy-to find information or the site that is jumbled-looking because it hasn't been optimized for different screen sizes? People look for businesses and information on their phones while waiting in line, at work, at home, and even smack in the middle of social interactions. To ensure success for your business, making your website easy to navigate is necessary.
Google Won't Like You
You might be thinking, "Well, I don't care if Google likes me!", but that's a mistake. Google is the most widely used search engine out there, and they have started kicking sites that aren't mobile responsive to the end of the search results. If you want to get business, you have to keep Google happy.
Having a mobile-responsive website at this point in 2021 is not just a recommendation, it's a requirement for businesses that want to thrive. If you have any questions on mobile responsiveness, feel free to reach out!
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