Smartphones and tablets now combine for more than half of all digital media use. If your website is not mobile-friendly, you are missing out on half your audience.
Additionally, because Google factors mobile-friendliness into its search rankings, if you have a website that is not mobile-friendly, you may be hindering the ability for others to find your site.
Unfortunately, the templates we currently provide in our NE1 Website Builder are not mobile-friendly. This was one of the biggest factors that led us to develop our new WP-EZ Website Builder.
Is WordPress Mobile Friendly?
Last week I wrote that while WordPress is a great platform, it also has some downsides to it. Some of the challenge as it relates to making a website mobile-friendly include:
- After installing WordPress you have find, possibly buy, and install a theme
- Not all WordPress themes are mobile friendly
- Not all plugins are mobile-friendly
So, if you want to build your website with WordPress and make it mobile friendly, you have to test your theme on different sized devices, and you have to test each plugin – typically 10-30 plugins in a website – on different sized devices.
The bottom line is… WordPress is only as mobile friendly as the theme and plugins you install in it.
Most people would prefer not to spend all that time and effort searching for and testing a theme and plugins that function well and look good on all devices. So, one of the benefits of having OurChurch.Com develop a custom WordPress website for your organization is that we do all that work for you to ensure your website works on all devices.
We’re putting that same rigorous testing and selection process into the new WP-EZ (WordPress made easy) Website Builder we’re developing to replace NE1.
Discuss
- How important do you think it is that a website be mobile-friendly?
- What kinds of problems have you run into on websites that are not mobile-friendly?
- How valuable would it be for you to have professional website developers test and select your website’s theme and plugins to ensure its mobile-friendly?
Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com
Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.
An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.
Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication.Â
6 Comments
I am not aquainted with Word Press funtions as I really rely on the website builder to do the thinking for me once I have placed the information in the template. As the pastor I really don't have time to struggle a lot with building out a site that requires plug-ins, etc. I need ease of operation as I am the only one available to take care of the website. Thanks
Hi Michael, you are exactly the kind of person we are developing the WP-EZ Website Builder for. 🙂
Hi Paul. Thanks for your work. Unfortunately, I don't have the funds to have anyone build a new website, but I'm looking forward to possibly using what you come up with to rebuild mine myself. Hoping. Jim
Hi Jim, I think you're really going to like the website you'll be able to build with WP-EZ. And we are developing a migration tool to copy as much of the content from your current website into your new WP-EZ site, so it won't take much time or effort to create your new website.
I'm just hoping the transfer of my site from the NE1 website builder to the WP-EZ one will go smoothly and that all of the sermon files will still play. I really don't understand Google's reasoning about NE1 sites not being mobile-friendly. My church's site looks much better on my tablet than a lot of major business sites I have visited.
Hi Jean, we will make sure the transition goes smoothly and everything works as it should.
I did not agree with Google's mobile-friendly guidelines at first either. I had become so used to pinching to zoom on my iPhone it really did not bother me, but over time I have come around. 🙂 Here is what Google has to say about your current site made with NE1:
<a href="https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/?url=http%3A%2F%2 Fwww.fellowshipfreewill.com%2F” target=”_blank”>https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-fr…” target=”_blank”>Fwww.fellowshipfreewill.com%2F