Update: Since the time of writing this post, Google has begun to roll out mobile-first indexing. This makes having a mobile-friendly church website even more critical.
It is absolutely necessary for your church to have a mobile-friendly website.
According to KPCB Internet Trends, 25% of global web usage is on mobile devices — and the increase from last year alone has been nearly two-fold in some regions. Expect that trend to continue. Statista forecasts more than 200 million smartphone users in the U.S. by 2017. That’s virtually everyone. Google has said 65% of searches begin on mobile phones. That statistic blew me away.
Because of this, Google recently rolled out a new feature for their search engine that helps smartphone users identify which sites are more worth visiting in search results. A mobile-friendly church website is not only convenient for users but is also a factor in search engine optimization.
Have you ever tapped on a Google Search result on your mobile phone, only to find yourself looking at a page where the text was too small, the links were tiny, and you had to scroll sideways… Google
Google is evaluating websites to determine whether or not they are mobile-friendly (ie. comfortable to use on a smartphone screen).
Sites that are mobile-friendly receive favor from Google in search results with a new “Mobile-friendly” label. This alerts users to the fact that the site will be more usable on their phone than websites not deemed mobile-friendly. As a result, sites that are optimized for phones have an advantage in Google search results over sites that are not. That could mean more church visitors.
All of our church WordPress themes have responsive designs and are made with phones and tablets in mind. You don’t have to do anything — it’s automatic. If you’re using one of our themes for your church website, you’re set.
If your church website is not mobile-friendly and therefore not favored in mobile search, think about switching to one of our WordPress themes. Remember that 65% of users begin searching on a smartphone — and that includes people looking for a church in your area.
Sources
- KPCB Internet Trends 2014, Page 9 (PDF)
- Number of smartphone users in the U.S. from 2010 to 2018, Statista.com
- The New Multi-screen World, Page 20 (PDF), Google
2 Comments
Great feature that I don’t have to do anything to implement, huge plus for both themes. Our resurrect site saw about 40% mobile visits this past year!
Wow, that’s a huge portion and would probably have been next to nothing just a few years ago. I don’t know if people realize yet how necessary it is to have a mobile-friendly website.
Smartphones will become as common as hands at this rate.
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