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This week (21st April 2015) Google have changed the way it orders search results on mobile devices to give preference to what it thinks are mobile-friendly websites.

The change to Google’s algorithm means websites that haven’t been optimised for mobile devices could find themselves dropping down the mobile search rankings.

What is a ‘responsive’ website?

Responsive, simply put, means the website responds to whatever device it is being displayed on. It will look good on a full desktop monitor and equally so on any other size screen down to a mobile phone. As the screen gets smaller there’s a few other issues that need addressing, like the size of links (so even the wider fingered user can press them) and the overall load time which is especially important over mobile connections.

This website is fully responsive (as you’ve probably guessed if you’re using a mobile device). You can test your own website here.

We build responsive sites from scratch or we can make your existing website responsive.

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Unlike cars, the market for second hand websites is extremely limited. You really can’t trade them in. You have two options though; buy a new one from scratch, or go for an overhaul. Websites don’t physically deteriorate so the best bits; images, textual content can be saved, and it maybe that you have some great timeless branding which you want to retain. Just the framework (chassis) of the site needs the revamp.

Engines also improve all the time. We can drop new engines into the website, keeping the design (livery) the same if you want to. We recently converted a dated Joomla site. We kept the brand and much of the style, kept the 1100+ content entries and photos, but made the new site under WordPress and also made it responsive. A well deserved overhaul. 

Going forward you need to remember things are moving on ever more quickly. The equivalent of flying cars may be just around the corner. Consider an ongoing website support plan to keep your website topped up with new ideas and technology as it develops, otherwise there will always be someone driving around in the newer, shinier, model.

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Like a car; your website needs fuel. And the fuel for your website is its content. Inbound links and traffic will come to a good quality, well fuelled, site. Yes, you can spend money on buying visitors and links but if your site isn’t re-fuelled frequently don’t expect any passengers to hang around. They will jump out and walk, or hitch a lift with one your competitors. How often should you ‘refuel’ your site. This depends; the sky is the limit. The BBC website gets multiple new updates and additions to its content 24 hours a day. This is totally unrealistic for a small-business, even with a dedicated marketing resource. If your site doesn’t get updated in several months -it could get downgraded in the search rankings. Aim for once per month as a minimum. If you have a content management system there are no excuses. If you don’t have a CMS – get one!

Having a ‘fuel efficient’ website means making sure your content is working hard for you. Ensure your website is technically  valid and up to date so you don’t get penalised by search engines. The highest grade fuel involves content which is relevant and engaging to both potential and current customers.

Use a copywriter if you struggle to do this yourself, but I think you should always at least do the first draft, as you, the business owner, know the subject matter best. Create internal links between related content and your service/sales pages – this way customers have the flexibility to browse around and can find out about your offering without being subjected to over-contrived landing pages and sales-funnels.

Ask (and provide answers for) topical questions within your business sector. Users are employing increasingly sophisticated search phrases (in the form of actual questions). If you are found to provide the answer you could well land a customer.

This is my 9yr old son Billy, he enjoyed modelling for this feature and can write HTML, and CSS, and is starting to code in Javascript, Python, Ruby and PHP.

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Fixing problems in code, including websites, can be very much like this.

On discovering each new problem he needs to decide whether to fix the new problem, or ignore it. The type of person who becomes a good computer programmer is typically hard-wired with a ‘go deeper’ mindset – to get to the bottom of every problem. He could have ignored the wobbly shelf – but then he would never have discovered the huge problem with the car engine (until another day).

When we fix websites we can operate either way. The ‘go deeper’ method cannot have a fixed price set at the outset and would simply be on a time spent basis. Or if you just want the light-bulb fixing; then we can do that – and inform you of the problem with the shelf. But please don’t expect us to discover or fix the car-engine problem for the price of a new light-bulb!

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