The world has gone mobile. In 2014, mobile users surpassed desktop users for the first time. In 2016, there were more than 3 billion users of mobile devices in the world. 93% of users spend more than 2.5 hours per day on digital media of some type. So, mobile is gaining importance. Therefore, it is important that your website is compatible with both desktop and mobile devices.
Most customers of veterinarians perform a Google search prior to contacting their veterinarian or before attempting to locate one. Therefore, your presence on the internet and your ability to be found optimally and frequently are crucial to a healthy practice. Google is the dominant search engine that most people use. Your ability to be found by people using Google is important. In 2015, Google changed its search formulas to require that websites that it presents in its highest ranking results be mobile compatible. That is, if your website is not optimized for viewing on mobile devices such as iPhones, Android devices, iPads, or other tablets, Google will rank your site lower than an alternative site with similar content. Therefore, make sure that your site is mobile compatible.
Managing your presence on the internet and optimizing your ability to be found by search engines is an essential tool for your practice. Just like you know how to diagnose and treat animals, there are people who have similar knowledge and comfort at diagnosing and 'treating' your website and web presence.
A useful tool from Google allows you to enter your website domain name, and it will test your home page for mobile compatibility. Test your site at: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/.
Other helpful tips and education are provided by Google developers at: https://developers.google.com/webmasters/mobile-sites/.
The reason Google is driving the world towards mobile compatibility or mobile responsive websites is to ensure a positive customer experience. If a customer comes to a site on their mobile device that isn't mobile compatible, it presents an unfavorable experience for Google customers who were delivered to that site. In similar manner, if sites aren't compatible with desktop viewing, customer experiences will suffer as well. Therefore, it is important that your site be responsive to all types of devices to ensure you will be found by those who use search to locate you.
