The core problem: owners assume "responsive" and "mobile-friendly" without ever actually testing on a phone with cellular data — so they don't realize the phone number is buried, the hero image is bloated, or the "Request a Quote" button sits below paragraphs no one scrolls to. Not every site needs a rebuild; about a third just need compressed images or minor fixes. Studio 47's approach: a real 30-second phone test first, honest diagnosis over automatic redesign, and true one-build responsive design (not a bolted-on mobile version) — so calls stop getting lost to a competitor while someone's standing in a driveway with one bar of signal.
"Great leads and SEO/Website for my tub refinishing business that Mike has helped us with. He always is fast if we need any changes to our website or updates and we get a lot of leads from google thanks to Studio 47 Web Design!" - Google Review by Jordan Seech
Passing Google’s test isn’t necessarily going to mean it’s super-easy to use with one thumb. Get hold of your phone and test it using 3G/4G rather than work WIFI. Can you read it all without pinching? Do you have to search around to find a phone number? How long does it take to show - as a rule of thumb, anything longer than about three seconds isn’t mobile-friendly? Can you easily use it with one thumb? That’s the ultimate mobile-friendly test.
Next time you have a moment, take your phone, turn off the WIFI, and conduct a search as though you’re a stranger. When you find your website, try to make a reservation or call. We can’t stress enough how important this exercise is.
Within thirty seconds, you’ll realize what’s true for you without any tools or reports.
Nine times out of ten, it's because the site was built on a large desktop monitor, shrunk down in size, and called responsive. Photos are now disproportionately large. The text is teeny tiny. The "Request a Quote" button has been relegated to an undisclosed position below four paragraphs that nobody reads on their phone.
This happens more often than you’d think. It’s rare that fixing this problem requires starting from scratch.
Your website may look fine in your office with a top of the line computer and fast internet connection, but we’ve found that for many businesses in Palm Beach County their customers are accessing their website from their cab or from out in the driveway. Often times its a summer afternoon, there’s a storm brewing and they are searching from their phone with one bar. This is where that nifty image slider is going to fail. We had contractors in Royal Palm Beach that had a hero image that was larger than their entire service menu. They were losing calls weekly because of this.
Pretty is NOT a requirement for mobile. Effective with one thumb, very fast, obvious what to touch and where it will take you. Those are.
With responsive web design, you can build your website just once, and it will accommodate any screen size. That means there’s only one place for you to post your business hours or make changes to them. In about nine times out of ten, a local service business does not need an app. Yes, some salesperson or your tech-savvy cousin will tell you that you need an app, but the fact of the matter is that you don’t.
Another drawback to maintaining a mobile website is that updates need to occur in two locations. We've audited client's sites only to find that the mobile version contains a dead phone number, which has been no longer in effect for three years. That is a problem if the majority of their calls come from a mobile device.
Applications are a special case; their usefulness depends on users coming back time and time again - logging into an account or system.
In this guide, we’ll take owners through a simple assessment process.
Recently, we’ve been telling folks in Royal Palm Beach to hold off on projects and invest in being found through Google, instead. They may not need a website overhaul, as it’s mobile-friendly already. Here’s what’s important: NO ONE is going to download an app for a roofing estimate. People ARE pulling out their phones when they’re standing in their driveways looking up at a damaged roof, so make sure your website is ready for them at that time.
In our experience looking at lots of small business websites in Palm Beach County about 1/3 only need minor tweaks. Which brings us to our next point. Contrary to popular belief, not every website needs to be torn down and redesigned.
Before you spend your money, check these items.
If all five apply to you, you don’t need us. Get the plumber. Get a haircut. Go to bed.
One of our favorites: uncompressed, too big images. The situation: somebody uploads a recent photo of 6 MB taken with her/his smartphone without compressing it and suddenly the whole site is very slow. Solution: compress images. If you have a recent website made with recent technologies it’s likely that you don’t need to rebuild your website. Our teams see this situation every week.
Not all changes are projects, some are just edits. Examples include updating business hours, contact information or adding another service.
Sometimes, fixing things here and there is more expensive than just rebuilding everything from scratch. If your site was built before responsive design became a thing and still has a shoddy mobile-only website, if your website is tied to a platform that is no longer being updated, or if it’s just constantly breaking no matter what you do, it may be time for a do-over.
This evaluation gives a real diagnosis, not a guess. Try it now: Go to your site on your phone. After looking at your site for ten seconds you’ll know more than enough.
Ready when you are - get in touch today. Call us for a Free Advertising Consultation today.
Most owners think redesigning their website is basically changing the logo and the color scheme. That's the smallest part. The primary purpose is figuring out how your pages should work on mobile, especially. Designing for that experience of someone who's using their phone with one hand in a parking lot. That's the tricky part.
In our Mobile Website audits, we start by viewing your website from an actual mobile device, not from the preview window on your desktop. Nine times out of ten, we find many of the same issues. Can’t click on the phone number to call. Too many fields in a form. Having to pinch to expand the text size to read.
Then we rebuild from the small screen up.
During the building of your website your current site will stay up and running. No blackouts. What is the turnaround time? Building a website for a small local service business can take a few weeks, not months. We’re simple and straightforward.
Remember to optimize your website during storm season. We forget that Royal Palm Beach customers have unstable power during storms. This means slower internet and using cellular instead of their home WIFI. Lighter pages will still load, heavier ones won’t and you’ll be losing calls without realizing it.
Web designers use a couple of different options when it comes to pricing. These range anywhere from a flat project fee, a per-page fee, or an hourly rate for updating or retrofitting an existing site. You’ll most likely run into the project fee when shopping as a small, local, service business and it’s honestly the best for them too, making it easier to budget.
If the quote includes a "mobile add-on", this often means they are building it desktop first and adding the mobile bits on. This is NOT responsive and results in two layouts to manage and therefore more room for things to go wrong. Properly built websites are responsive from the outset, using flexible layouts. You should NOT need to pay for a second version of your site.
What moves the number up or down?
Tips for hiring a website designer or developer Ask the following questions: Is the website responsive to mobile? Will this cost extra? Who owns the website and the domain? What happens if I come back six months from launch and want to make a few changes to the site?
No surprises. Get answers to all three of these in writing and in plain language before anyone starts work on your project.
Common questions about Mobile website design (responsive web design rwd)
Turn off your wifi, grab your phone, and search for your own business like a stranger would. If the page loads in about three seconds, the phone number is tappable at the top, and you can read everything without pinching to zoom, you're in good shape. If you're side-scrolling or hunting for a call button, that's a sign your site needs work. This thirty-second test tells you more than any online checker.
Most local service businesses in Royal Palm Beach don't need an app, a responsive website is enough. Apps make sense when customers log in often, like checking account balances or making weekly reservations. If people find you once, call you, and hire you, an app just adds cost and confusion. Save that money and put it into a site that works well on any phone screen instead.
This usually happens because the site was built for a big desktop screen and just shrunk down. Photos end up oversized, text gets tiny, and important buttons like Request a Quote get buried below paragraphs nobody reads on mobile. We saw this with contractors in Royal Palm Beach whose hero image was bigger than their entire service menu. They lost calls every week because of it.
Not always. In our experience with small businesses across Palm Beach County, about a third only need minor tweaks, not a full rebuild. Check if your site fits the phone screen, buttons are big enough for thumbs, your phone number is tap-to-call, and pages load fast on cellular data. If those all check out, you likely just need small fixes instead of starting over.
One of the most common causes is uncompressed images straight from a smartphone camera, sometimes 6 MB or larger. That single photo can slow down your entire site for someone standing in their driveway with one bar of signal. Compressing images usually fixes this fast. It's a small change that makes a big difference for customers searching from their car or yard in Royal Palm Beach.
No, a separate mobile site creates more work and more risk. With responsive design, you update your business hours or phone number in one place, and it shows correctly everywhere. We've audited sites where the mobile version still had a phone number that was disconnected for three years. If most of your calls come from mobile, that kind of mistake costs you real business.
Call us now for your Free Consultation and get your phone ringing.