Converting to responsive - worth the effort?

[Casino-Matt]

PS~ We have a few websites and did the same thing on all of them. Non gambling sites took far less of a hit.
I'd say as a rule of thumb, the more established the website and the more competitive the industry, the bigger the hit.
You got to weigh up the cost to benefit ratio and make a decision based on that.

 

[Vladi]

Without knowing exactly what you do when you redesign your site or put in a new theme, but assuming all else remains the same - i.e. you have the same text on the page in the same order, then it won't make a bit of difference to Google what theme you use or how you change your CSS. Search engines predominantly scan the text on your pages. For the most part they deliberately ignore the bits in between i.e. the HTML tags and script etc, to get the content (though there are some exceptions like trying to detect hidden text).

So if you aren't making major changes to the content and you're not hiding text on your pages, and the new theme isn't so loaded with images, flash, scripts and other junk that make your pages load significantly slower, then changing your theme has most likely had nothing at all to do with your changes in rankings.

 

[john08]

Seems that google will rank a mobile unfriendly site lower in mobile searches. And they now emphasize the mobile usability of sites.

 

[slotplayer]

I think I might just go with a small new site as I have some content and use that as a test bed.

 

[slotplayer]

Got this email from GWMT a couple hours ago:

Google systems have tested 113 pages from your site and found that 100% of them have critical mobile usability errors. The errors on these 113 pages severely affect how mobile users are able to experience your website. These pages will not be seen as mobile-friendly by Google Search, and will therefore be displayed and ranked appropriately for smartphone users.

I have two more sites I'm sure I'll be getting emails for.

 

[3joker]

Yes, it is worth it. Did it myself about a year ago and I glad I did now. Especially since Google is getting more focused on mobile friendly sites.

 

[slotplayer]

Technically its not as bad as I thought.

 

[Engineer]

I have a few sites now fully responsive, and I'm hoping to get most of the rest done before Google's April 21 deadline. Some sites were relatively easy; others will probably get a complete redesign.

 

[Neil]

Everything is going mobile, best to go with it. It's worth wire framing your site before coding


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bobby sand]

In my opinion going responsive is much easier than creating a separate mobile site under lets say m. or mobile folder /mobile. With the recent mobile update, I'm predicting that Google will only give effectively optimized mobile sites more prominence in mobile ranking's not less, so you're not feeling the hit from mobile traffic yet you definitely will do in the future since we're seeing almost 50% of traffic coming through from mobile and tablet devices, dependent on industry.

 

[advent_geek]

Currently i have tasted the Sweet of Responsive Design from Google's Search Results. Ranked on Top 5 for Specific Keywords on Mobile Search Results.

Yimmee

Kind Regards

 

[WagerPod]

Has anyone here converted a non-responsive site to a responsive design?

If so, did you notice any difference in rankings, traffic volume, time on site, conversion rates, revenue, etc?

Just my addition - I normally buy WP themes which are responsive, certainly for mobile. People are visiting sites from new devices all the time - its best to cater from them early on because the big G will be using it as a more predominate ranking factor.

In regards to making a static site responsive, I wouldn't bother I would just buy a theme but if I never had the choice I think I would inevitably.

 

[slotplayer]

I think all sites need to be made mobile ready.

 

[AussieDave]

All my sites are now responsive, yet I haven't seen a spike in traffic. Reiterating I think betting affiliates will see a larger uptake on mobile apps for sportsbooks. Maybe in a couple of years when mobiles have larger screens then playing mobile casino slots etc will be appealing. Just right now I find them way to small. NB - Players with 20/20 vision are usually younger and don't usually have disposable income like say players 45+ in age

 

[LandofOz]

I think that one of the most tedious things about converting a static HTML site to a mobile friendly WP site is having to 301 every single page from the old site to the new site in the .htaccess file.

eg:

redirect 301 /bingo.html http://www.newsite.com/bingo/

 

[slotplayer]

must be a regular expression that can make it easier.

 

[Kasino]

I think that one of the most tedious things about converting a static HTML site to a mobile friendly WP site is having to 301 every single page from the old site to the new site in the .htaccess file.

eg:

redirect 301 /bingo.html http://www.newsite.com/bingo/

It is also possible do not to use a redirect but configure Permalinks (admin --> settings --> permalinks):

Custom Structure: /%postname%.html

 

[peterhanneman]

Yes it does make different as you will reach to mobile users and now a days many people access sites from mobile and tablet so I guess it's worth to have it.

 

[bobby sand]

Mobile and tablet browsing has already surpassed desktop and in my opinion this is only the beginning. It will become more and more important to cater for mobile users and usability will play a massive role in that as well as the site's overall authority in search. Cater for your user base and you'll be fine, if that means they're coming from mobile devices then just make sure they can browse your site effectively via such devices