The most effective way to make a website mobile ready is through responsive web design. As per Google, responsive web design steers clear of common mobile development mistakes and significantly makes things easier in the process of making your website mobile ready.
To make your website responsive you can choose from any of the 3 given options that suit you best.
The first option is to do the job yourself which is only possible if you have the technical prowess for it and time on your side. If you answer no to this, then it is suggested to look at the other options given hereafter
The second option is to buy a readied responsive theme or template for your website. This happens to be the fastest, pocket-friendly and easiest option for making your website mobile responsive without much ado. In case you have a complex functionality website, then this option would require the assistance of a developer to imbue the requirements effectively. If you are a layman and not faintly also aware of technical terminologies and development work, then it would be an uphill task to select a suitable developer. Nevertheless, read on to understand five basic things you would need to ask before hiring the developer with regards to making your site responsive.
- Step 1
It’s best to view the developer’s portfolio of website responsive projects that he has worked on. Particularly check the experience he has on responsive web design. Inquire about the relevant experience you require such as making your desktop site responsive and take a thorough understanding from him about the same.
- Step 2
It is wise to understand the developer’s take on your business and the tasks that you require to be optimized for your desktop site. It is most important to judge the developer’s prowess for developing your site while supporting the functionality required by both desktops as well as mobile users. This may sound like a difficult task to accomplish, but still its best to try to make the effort. It's best to optimize both the looks and functionality required by mobile users to enable them to undertake their common chores with ease.
- Step 3
Website speed is one of the most important aspects for which you would need a commitment from the developer. For a website to retain its visitors and avoid tarnishing the website’s image, it’s absolutely necessary that visitors are able to quickly surf through your web pages without waiting too long for them to load on their browsers. You need to provide some points in the developer contract such as your web pages should render as smoothly as that of your competitors, and in case that sounds like asking for the moon, take a commitment for the Google tool Page Speed Insights that ensures getting a no issue green check mark while measuring page performance on desktop and mobile devices.
- Step 4
Have the developer install a web analytics tool such as Google Analytics, for collecting your site's performance parameters. This analytic data will enlighten you on figuring out the best ways to improve your website’s performance and make it better. So do add a clause to your contract for including improvements to your website post-launch.
- Step 5
It is imperative that your programmer is knowledgeable with the criteria of major search engines such as Google, Bing, etc. while making your site responsive. It is essential for both the developer and you to understand and follow Google’s Webmaster Guidelines to meet with Google’s criteria to the hilt.
Follow the above five steps and get on with making your site responsive without much hassle and time snarls. Being well informed is a must in the Information Technology world of ours. It helps in taking a wise decision while hiring a developer for your web and mobile site related projects.
