Does Your WordPress Site Look Dumb on Smartphones?

Your Website Needs to be Mobile Responsive

My sites have been responsive for years now. Surprisingly, there are still WordPress sites that do not use responsive themes or create designs that break the established responsive layout. Some are not as responsive as they could be, and many don’t designate mobile-specific navigation menus.

Why is that? Many don’t realize the many variables involved in creating a user-friendly, mobile-responsive website. As a result, some folks are hesitant to switch themes because it is a lot of work. Or, they don’t want to spend the money on a new design.

Not keeping up with technology and ensuring your website looks good and performs at its best across all platforms is a lost opportunity. Even if you don’t do e-commerce, a difficult-to-navigate website will also prevent lead generation for service offerings.

Have you looked at your site on a smartphone and tablet lately?

When your theme isn’t as mobile-responsive as it could be, it doesn’t resize for the device you’re using to view your website. If that is the case, it is time for a new theme or framework. Most likely, if you haven’t updated your theme in years, it’s pretty outdated, and you are due for a refresh.

Premium themes are mobile-responsive and include demos so you can see how they look on various devices. If you don’t see this type of information, find a new theme to purchase.

To be honest, discussing mobile responsiveness makes me feel like I’m in the “way-back machine.” Back in the day, in a land far, far away, web designers had to test their designs across more than 10 browsers and platforms, knowing each would render the same HTML or scripting differently.

In some cases, getting a website to display the same content across all platforms was impossible. There was only so much you could do back then. So, we had to settle for a website to “degrade gracefully.”

Some chose to have multiple separate websites that would be redirected to based on the device used to access the website. That got pricey fast.

Degrading Gracefully

Back then, “degrading gracefully” was what you hoped to accomplish. You knew there was no way to get a “web site” (yes, website was two words back then) to look identical in every browser or environment. But you could add a few snippets to get better results.

Fast forward decades, and here we are again—numerous OSes, browsers, and screen sizes. In addition, technology now offers us Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) combined with scripting to detect the user’s device and serve up the site/styles that will look best.

What I love most is that the K.I.S.S. principle has come full circle. If your market primarily views your site on non-desktop platforms, “Keep It Simple Silly” is the only way to go. A more straightforward layout, cleaner design (white space is a good thing), and larger fonts make the mobile experience more inviting, encouraging mobile viewing by focusing on content.

Deja vu? Once again, there is no way to guarantee your site will look the same across every possible combo, because, for no other reason, it is out of our control to manage each individual’s user settings. (You can run a test on your website her e.)

So, how do we ensure our site is mobile-responsive?

Another reason to love WordPress. There is no shortage of responsive themes that cater to mobile and tablet environments. In addition, having your site look great without knowing any programming is pretty straightforward.

There are many great responsive premium themes out there. I stick with “premium” themes because the developers are invested in their products. So, they won’t disappear off the face of the Earth when an update requires modifications, security fixes, or bug fixes.

Premium themes also provide support and resources when you need them. (With Free themes, you usually get what you pay for.) I also tend to gravitate to premium plugins for the same reasons.

With all the choices out there, I stick with time-tested, proven products. For my sites, I use Kadence. You can read about why here.

Time to ReCheck and Double-check Your Theme

All quality theme shops bake responsiveness into their products. But that doesn’t mean the theme will compensate for any changes you make that will throw things out of whack. That’s why you want to make a point of checking your site regularly for this.

If you aren’t sure which theme is best for you, read my article: Choosing the Right WordPress Premium Theme.

Here are 10 short and simple tips to make your website mobile-responsive:

Add the viewport meta tag: <meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1″> in the <head>.
Use relative units (%, em, rem, vw, vh) instead of fixed pixels for widths, fonts, and spacing.
Implement CSS media queries to adjust styles for smaller screens (e.g., @media (max-width: 768px)).
Adopt a mobile-first approach: design for small screens first, then enhance for larger ones.
Use flexible layouts with CSS Flexbox or Grid for fluid, adaptable structures.
Make images responsive by setting max-width: 100%; height: auto; and using srcset for different resolutions.
Ensure touch targets (buttons, links) are at least 44×44 pixels to make them easy to tap.
Optimize typography: use readable font sizes (minimum 16px) and adequate line height on mobile.
Avoid horizontal scrolling: keep content within the viewport width.
Test regularly on real devices and in browser tools (for example, Chrome DevTools’ Responsive Mode).

Mobile Responsive Options

WPTouch is an option if you aren’t up for a full theme switch or want more control than your responsive theme offers. The premium version of WPTouch lets you look great on all the top mobile platforms by offering mobile themes you can tweak to your liking, all within your WordPress dashboard.

With each passing day, more mobile users visit your site. So, if you are reading this article, it tells me you need to get on the shtick.

Look at your server statistics/logs to see which platforms are hitting your site — you may be surprised by how many are not on desktops. Then test your site here: MobileTest.me.

At your service,