Why Responsive Web Design is Good for SEO?

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Looking at the current scenario we have today website owners can either opt for a separate mobile compatible website or transform their current business website to a responsive one. Responsive website design refers to having a site that actually responds to the screen of the device that it is browsed on. The responsive website would adapt according to the display and it would appear in a more presentable manner. It is without doubt that responsive websites are going to stay and in no way are they going to phase out anytime soon.

Responsive_Web_Design

The method and technology used to create responsive websites is still however undergoing some changes and as and when newer devices are launched in the market one can see further changes. Instead of focusing on devices, one can see a shift towards having a responsive website that can adapt to a variety of devices. The verdict is that as long as all kinds of devices are going to be used to access the internet, responsive websites would always be a necessary requirement.

Responsive websites offer a ton of benefits including SEO too. Here is a brief summary of some SEO benefits that one can achieve from responsive websites:

–          Better local rankings

–          Google enjoys responsive websites

–          Content needs to be unique

–          Onsite SEO still holds

–          Linking technique needs to be adhered to

Better Local Rankings:

In case you are targeting local keywords for your business it has been seen that a responsive website can in fact help increase your rankings. With more and more visitors looking for online directories and that too while on the go this is why it is essential that you have a responsive website that is picked up by local directories which in return helps increase your visibility. Search results for mobile devices are inclined and affected by geo specific parameters. This is why it is essential that your website meets local SEO pointers. This way Google would be able to identify your optimized website and would tend to have it positioned in search engines.

Search_Engine_Loves_Responsive_Web_Design

Google Enjoys Responsive Websites:

When it comes to search, Google is still considered as the number on choice. However not lagging behind is Bing. Until and unless Google’s dominance does not come to an end we would need to focus on what Google has to say to ensure maximum traffic hits our targeted business website. Google recommends that one should follow industry best standards and must use responsive web design for mobile devices. Coding like HTML and CSS would help in creating such websites and further help the site render on most of the devices.

Google_Enjoys_Responsive_Web_Design

Content Needs to be Unique and Compelling:

It has been seen that responsive design helps remove the challenge of any content duplication. Website owners who do go ahead and tend to create mobile versions of their website tend to replicate the same content from the targeted or main website on to the mobile version. As a result the credibility of the mobile site reduces considerably for search engines. In other words it becomes challenging for the mobile site to rank high on search engines. As a solution to the problem you can use switchboard tags which can help create links between the mobile and desktop version of the website. The only risk here is that may be Google hasn’t made the connection whereas other search engines like Bing and Yahoo may have not completely implemented tagging.

Onsite SEO still holds:

Although SEO can be time consuming and costly at times however it still needs to be implemented on your mobile version of the website. When you opt for responsive designs all your onsite SEO efforts would still apply. The same goes for social sharing as well.

Your typical SEO techniques would remain the same on the mobile version like anchor text, link structure, Meta tags and description, title tags, content optimization and more.

Linking techniques need to be adhered to:

Link building although can be time consuming and a costly approach than what it used to be but it still holds good for the mobile version of the website as well. In case you have invested a fortune in resourcing back links you are better off using the same links to enhance the visibility of your mobile website. This would help save on time and efforts.

Yet another useful benefit is that most likely the pages as hosted for your responsive website would be shared by various users. If the pages of your website render properly on a mobile browser then others may want to share the same pages with people they know. This way you are able to gain better and effective visibility.

2 Responses to “Why Responsive Web Design is Good for SEO?”
  1. Matthew Steffen July 16, 2013
  2. Propanefirepits December 2, 2013

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