You have an awesome business model. Therefore, you need a mobile app, right?

Not necessarily. In many cases, you’ll find that producing a mobile-friendly website is your ticket to success in the mobile market. In fact, it’s often the case that a website optimized for mobile traffic is superior to an app, because the user doesn’t need to download anything to access your website.

The “app-centric” concept that was popular about five years ago has waned. Downloading an app is now considered an obstacle to information access. It’s user hostile to make a potential client or customer spend extra time downloading an app before he or she can access information relevant to your brand.

SEE ALSO: Your Next Site Design – Should It Be Responsive?

Mobile devices all have one thing in common: a web browser. If you can present your portfolio of offerings to people via a web channel, why not do it that way as opposed to forcing a download on the user?

You might be asking yourself if there is such a thing as a website that can present a professional image on desktops, laptops, and the various forms of mobile devices.

In a word: Yes. Even though the different types of hardware used to access your website can have different resolutions, different pixel densities, and different orientations, your website can still look polished.

How is this done? Search for a web template with one keyword: responsive. That is the first word you should be looking for when browsing for a website template or a WordPress theme. Never forget that word.

What Does “Responsive” Even Mean?

As the word implies, it means that the website can “respond” to the various types of hardware that are used to access it. So, if the website is accessed with a smartphone device in portrait mode, then the output will be adjusted so that everything looks great in that format. If the website is accessed from a desktop with a large resolution monitor, the output will be adjusted so that it looks great on that monitor.

A responsive website is an excellent alternative to an app also because you won’t have to worry about developing different apps for different platforms. As of now, if you produce an app, you’ll need at last three development streams: one for iOS, one for Android, and one for Windows. However, with a responsive website, you won’t need any of that. Instead, your brand will automatically be marketed in a presentation adapted to the various devices.

If your website isn’t currently responsive, it’s highly recommended that you replace your current template with a responsive one. Try viewing your website with various mobile devices to see how it appears. If you’re presenting a less-than-professional image on any device, you’re probably losing business.

Apps may have been the craze in the past, but that’s because they were a novelty. Now, people are accustomed to the concept and they’ve opted for efficiency. Ensure that you can easily reach your market with a website that is mobile-friendly.