Which Is Best for SEO Responsive or Mobile Web Design

By 2015, it is estimated that local mobile searches will surpass local desktop searches. This transformation of how people receive digital information has made SEO for mobile devices a critical issue for webmasters and marketers. Lately, an increasing number of businesses are using responsive web design for mobile users rather than creating a separate mobile site. But what are the key differences between responsive and mobile web design? More importantly, from an SEO standpoint, is one more effective than the other? The Difference Between Responsive and Mobile Web Design Mobile sites: These are normally created separately from the desktop version, and designed so they can be easily read on mobile screens. In most cases, mobile users will be redirected to a mobile version of a website. To cut down on page load times, the content is limited to what is important to the mobile user. For a better user experience, designers should aim for fast load times, and include mobile-friendly features like large touch buttons and navigational features that make it easy to access company info and purchase information. It’s also useful to include a link to the full desktop version of the website for those who want more information. Responsive sites: Using a responsive design means you only have to create one version of your website. This design will then respond to whatever device is being used to view the website, adjusting elements of the web page to fit any sized screen. Usually, larger page elements that are unnecessary will be scaled down or simply disappear on a mobile device. Site content and other page elements will automatically stack themselves on top of one another, so much of the content is still visible. What Does Google Recommend? Google supports both responsive design and separate mobile sites, but they recommend using responsive design, referring to it as industry best practice. Google engineer Matt Cutts has frequently stated that responsive design is the smartest option for SEO, partly because it uses only one URL for a website. Also, if you have a separate mobile version of your site that is not coded correctly, you could inadvertently split PageRank between your primary website and the mobile version. On a more technical note, there are certain rules webmasters need to obey to enable Google to crawl a site, understand its architecture and content, and rank it accordingly. With both responsive and separate mobile websites, you must not block resources like JavaScript and CSS for search engines. You need to let Google figure out if your site is a responsive or mobile site by making sure Googlebot can scan all your site code. For further technical help on optimizing your site for mobile, visit Google’s Webmaster Tools Help Center online. Responsive Design Is the Future Regarding SEO, there are three main reasons why responsive websites are being favored by many leading businesses: 1. They’re easier for Google to crawl. Because there is only one URL and one set of HTML code behind the website, Google can index your site more efficiently. Having a mobile site means search engines have to crawl two different versions of the same site. 2. It’s a better user experience. Having content on one URL makes it a more streamlined experience for users. Sharing and interacting with content is easier, and linking to content works simply across all devices. As user experience is now considered a key search engine ranking factor, responsive sites are likely to do better in the long run. The Bottom Line Not every business has the budget for a responsive web design, but it’s a smart investment if you can do it. It provides a better user experience across all devices and screen sizes, and makes it easier to manage your SEO web content. As far as SEO is concerned, a mobile site can work effectively, but you have to be certain it’s set up correctly for Google to avoid any issues with split PageRank. With the growth of mobile Internet usage, and considering all the benefits, responsive web design is clearly the best choice for SEO.