The beginning of 2014 marked a new era of Internet traffic, with various reports indicating that more people now access the Internet using a mobile device than a traditional desktop computer. Webmasters and small business owners must adapt to this trend by designing mobile-friendly websites. Because if your website does not load and function on mobile devices, you could be losing a significant portion of visitors.
Of course, there are several different ways to create a mobile-friendly website, the two most common being a Responsive Web Design or separate mobile domain. So, which of these configurations is the best?
What’s the Difference?
Let’s first discuss the basics of both RWD and separate mobile websites, as many people are likely hearing about them for the first time. A separate mobile website is exactly what it sounds like: a separate domain that’s used specifically for mobile traffic. It typically contains all (or most) of the content from the original domain, but with a mobile-friendly design. Separate mobile websites can be something like yourwebsite.mobi, or they can be a subdomain on your primary website like mobile.yourwebsite.com. Regardless, search engines will treat them in the same manner.
A Responsive Web Design (RWD), on the other hand, is a configuration that involves the use of proportion-based measurements (as opposed to fixed measurements like pixels) along with CSS3 media queries. Technical jargon aside, responsive websites load and function the same, regardless of the device on which they are being viewed. They automatically adapt based on the user’s device. So whether you are accessing a responsive website on a desktop, tablet or smartphone, you can rest assured knowing that it will function as intended.
Why Responsive Web Design Trumps Separate Mobile Websites
Most professional web designers will agree that RWD is the better choice of the two — and there are several reasons for this. For starters, using a separate mobile website means your content is published on two domains, which could lead to duplicate content issues as search engines try to determine which version to index and which one to not index. Responsive websites avoid this issue by placing all content on a single domain.
Separate mobile websites also require twice the work to maintain. Whenever you want to add a new page, you’ll have to do so on both the standard and mobile version of your website. This can consume significant amounts of time and resources as your site grows. However, responsive websites don’t have this problem since all content is placed on a single domain.
Furthermore, Google recommends the use of RWD when designing a mobile-friendly website. In fact, it’s the only configuration that it recommends.
