Your WordPress site needs to support mobile devices. Users are increasingly going mobile, and there’s no turning back. If your website isn’t mobile friendly, Google will be penalizing you in searches from mobile devices like phones and tablets.
What are your options?
Mobile Website
This is a website designed solely and specifically for mobile devices, Smartphones in particular.
- The creator of a blog/website may want smartphone users to have one experience on their smartphone and a different one on their desktop. This is especially true of websites that are product based. The actual desktop site may be created to encourage the user to spend time looking around. The mobile website may be created with the sole idea of finding your location in relation to where you can buy their product.
- The desktop and mobilized sites may share some backend components, but the mobilized site will have a lot of it’s own code.
Mobile Apps
- A mobile app is just that. An app made specifically for a mobile device. You pay someone to create the app for you. It lives on your smartphone and the Internet isn’t required for access. But you will most likely require Internet access to do any kind of task.
- Mobile app code may be native code, written (or generated) for each mobile platform (Android, iOS, Windows, etc.)
- It can also be HTML, CSS, and JavaScript wrapped in an “app shell” using a tool like PhoneGap or RhoMobile — or a combination of these approaches.
After telling you all that I’m going to tell you that I wouldn’t recommend this approach. Keep in mind apps, as a rule are developed for the masses and people actually have to go out and find and procure said app. Will your readers be looking for you in an app store? It’s highly unlikely. They’ll be looking for you on Google. Don’t create something that you don’t need.
The Decision
Depending on your goal and objectives for your WordPress site…
Responsive design. Yes!
Mobilized Design. Yes!
Mobile App. NO!
Make the decision and implement it right away. Most websites have yet to take this step, providing you with another way to stay ahead of your competition.
