rsponsive vs mobile template

[schoolboy]

We've been looking at a lot of options for responsiveness. All have their avantages - and draw-backs, but it is clear to me that jquery mobile is probably the way to go, because it negates the need to have a completely new template - AND it is a lot more "efficient" in terms of page-speed on mobile devices.

The main challenge with a "responsive" template is that they are CSS and JS "hungry", as this code does a hell of a lot of hiding and re-shaping of page elements. This can seriously affect page-speed - which is now one of Google's main evaluation criteria.

We're also looking at NUMINIX's "tableau" template, where minification and cache features compensate for heavy CSS and JS.

As with all templates, you will need to tweak the CSS for margins, padding and line-height in order to satisfy Google's need to have sufficient space between clickable elements.

There is no "one-size-fits-all" (yet).

While there may be a preference to finding "free" resources, we take the view that we are running a commercial operation, and a poorly-functioning site affects revenue. We look at what we are LOSING, rather than what a commercial module is COSTING - and when you take this view - and do some numbers, spending a few pounds on a good commercial module/template/solution is the best route (in a business sense).

What if you were running a transport company, and 5 out of 6 of your trucks were inoperable because the tyres are flat?

Do you skimp and keep applying cheap n nasty puncture repair patches (which fail frequently and result in more down-time), or do you just go buy new tyres? Without an efficient truck, you're not going to transport anything, and your customers will just go find a company who has trucks that work.

[DarkAngel]

Thanks for chiming in schoolboy.

I have been trying almost all the responsive templates that are offered here. I noticed on the one that I finally got to behave, so far that is, after editing text/slight image sizes decrease in them and amount of them and buttons edited which did not break it...yet.

There were all sorts of things that would not behave and demos showed things perfectly aligned yet when installed the product pages were not aligned and when following the advice to edit the code -- the template proceeded to break and not go back, even after files were brought back to original totally.

I also noticed that the JS was a lot and although Google thinks they are the end all, be all to getting sites ranked they are not happy. Using their webmaster tools and checking the sites to see if they are considered mobile, they ultimately fail for text too small/ links too close together and not finger friendly..what I could do with that last statement...LOL

Then there are some that when checked for responsiveness again Google says they are not.

I also tried a mobile template I found for free that says if you like the free version you will love the full version....well I did not. I tried it on a live store and none of the products showed up, it claimed to be empty. Then when uninstalling it...the SQL worked flawlessly, the template was removed totally, however, the CSS_JS Loader was still there even after removing all its files/installer.

I am so disillusioned with responsive it just is not funny....and yet Google also intimated that if sites/stores are not responsive/mobile friendly they will be ignored.

I --at the moment--am not financially able to buy a responsive template but with the ones that have not functioned properly I can't see paying for something that may be iffy at best. Spending money to make money is a great idea but it needs to work or you have wasted your money.

I totally understand too that if one is not knowledgeable with the responsive end that we ask questions but many just give vague answers and not really helpful...we are learning this stuff and some that know it more just do not wish to help out with what to do where and about how much to set a setting for.

But my mama did not give birth to a quitter and like that dog withs bone we just keep on trucking.

[schoolboy]

We're busy testing sheffield responsive blue (picflor) on a "clone" of our main website.

see: http:// ngraving . co . uk - original site at http:// tagmakers . co . uk

to see its responsiveness (ngraving site), you can just "re-size" the browser. You have to either look at it in a "real" mobile device, or through an emulator such as http://troy.labs.daum.net

Running this test site through Google Pagespeed testing tool, we're almost there - but like you, we need to adjust space between clickable elements.

We're probably going to use Sheffield Blue Responsive as it satisfies many of Google's requirements.

Also, if you try to satisfy EVERYTHING google throws at you you will never succeed. Google is using electronic automatons to make assessments in these "tools", and they will always come up with something that's not quite "satisfactory".

What we do is COMPARE ourselves against our competitors. We run their sites through these tools, then try to make sure we are scoring better than they are. The "logic" here is that we only really need to be better than the competition, so when the bunfight for ranking (in our sector) begins, we're more likely to be ahead if our ranking criteria scores are higher than theirs.

[schoolboy]

One thing you may notice about the ngraving clone, compared to the original tagmakers, is that we are ruthlessly culling all extraneous material. We've "killed" the rotating banner stuff, along with a lot of bloated links and content.

Now, the objective is to have a site that (on mobile devices) puts PRODUCTS in front of visitors as quickly as possible.

This is based on the knowledge that people using mobile devices to shop DO NOT WANT tons of crap to wade through. The faster they can see the product they are after, and the EASIER it is to add-to-cart and checkout, the better.

Our policy now is that the eCommerce site is just a Cash Register. We do our prospect harvesting in other ways.

See my ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME posts on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/today/autho...det-athr_posts

[DarkAngel]

Thank you so very much for restoring my peace of mind. I have been trying to et that through the mindset of one of the owners...Google will never be happy and yet it drives me crazy that the owner will not listen to me.

But almost done upgrading the store and once that is accomplished I do not care about google...LOL

[schoolboy]

Thank you so very much for restoring my peace of mind. I have been trying to et that through the mindset of one of the owners...Google will never be happy and yet it drives me crazy that the owner will not listen to me.

But almost done upgrading the store and once that is accomplished I do not care about google...LOL

The thing to do with clients you are building a site for, is to come at it from ONE perspective - and ONE perspective only...

I always start with the question:

"What do you want this website to DO for you?"

If they don't answer (in one way or other) "We want the site to sell and to make a profit"... then I either nudge them towards that answer, or I suggest they go look for help elsewhere. I do not build sites for Google, nor do I try to show off with fancy home-page image carousels, or worry about the shade of blue in the background image, or how cute an embedded youtube video may look, or any of that nonsense. I will build a site that sells, and if my client is a good business person and knows the principles of financial management, then the site should contribute to profits.

If you are in business, then a website has ONE FUNCTION - to contribute to the PROFITS of the business.

The process starts by looking at the business objectives of the client, their market, their competition, their products and their intended audience and customer base. Long before we look at the "website", we look at how the business is to operate (or is operating) and we plot the journey of what it takes to attract an interested visitor to what it takes to turn them into a paying customer.

Today, we look at what we call the WIDER WEB PRESENCE - because the eComm site is just a facet of a much broader presence on the internet. The days of the "website" being the be-all and end-all of one's internet offerings are over. Today, one needs to leverage a whole host of faculties on the web, and to manipulate these to follow the customer flow.

My ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME articles outline this approach.

A few years ago, we also got bogged down in semantics. Our clients had usually done a bit of research and were often "tainted" by stuff like "SEO" and "Search Engine Friendliness" and all the rubbish that's ever been written about that. We have to wean them off all this junk, and bring them back to the simple reality that selling on the internet is pretty much the same as selling in a traditional shop... Attract interest, bring in visitors, offer them good propositions that solve a problem for them and get them to the point at which they pay as soon as possible.

Given how Google now "evaluates" the worth of any "web Presence", the first objective is to construct the framework on which their Wider Web Presence must function. This includes the building of appropriate social network sites, perhaps a blog, other micro-sites, membership of relevant forums, article publishing in relevant spaces, etc, etc...

In tandem with this, we build the eComm site - which should be little more than a "pay point", and here's why...

If you put yourself into the position of a modern web shopper, you will see that there is a relatively common "path" that people take when they are looking to buy something. In MOST cases, people have already made a decision to buy long before they reach your webshop, and they have probably done some research and investigating before they finally say: "Right... now where can I buy this thing..."

The Wider Web is the place that all that preliminary investigation happens, and if your wider web presence has featured in their quest, then you've accomplished much of what it takes to convert them into YOUR customer.

By the time they get you your eComm site, they are 99% of the time ready to buy, and their chief desire at that point is to buy what they are after as quickly and as easily as possible.

If you have ever been a "customer" browsing the web for something that you are ready to buy, you will know the feeling...

Sites like eBay and Amazon have this down to a fine art. It is possible to find a product using Google search, then click an amazon link directly to it, then add it to cart, then checkout and pay.

... That's the entire purchase process completed in THREE CLICKS !!! From finding the product to paying for it can take less than 15 seconds on eBay and Amazon...

So, we emulate these experts. We DO NOT have fancy distractions on the webshop - it's the PAY POINT ONLY, not a venue for entertainment, superfluous waffle or long histories of how great we are. We leverage the wider web to FUNNEL interested purchasers to OUR shop, and when they get there, they can checkout in a couple of clicks.

Now... as you will know... featuring in this Wider Web is the challenge, but one does it using a strategy that FOLLOWS THE COMMON BEHAVIOUR OF INTERNET SHOPPERS, and NOT how Google works.

Part of the behaviour of internet shoppers is what they LIKE to be able to do on any website, and whether doing it is easy, intuitive and FAST.

This is what Google is saying to us... just build sites that are NICE AND EASY to use, and which people find "pleasurable".

It requires technical proficiency, good, sensible content, and a high degree of intuitive logic in the path from turning a visitor into a customer...

[swguy]

Jose wrote an interesting article for my newsletter that you might enjoy reading. It's here:

http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=...&id=3a08aa5785

[schoolboy]

Jose wrote an interesting article for my newsletter that you might enjoy reading. It's here:

http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=...&id=3a08aa5785

Hi Scott...

Much of the inspiration I have gained over the years has been from your newsletters (which I get via email), and I read Jose's article.

Anyone else reading this post should be subscribing to Scott's newsletter...

[delia]

both Jose and I have a separate mobile template with the same base of mobile jQuery. The point is to make it as streamlined as possible and getting rid of unnecessary bells and whistles. You just set it up to automatically divert the customer to it if their screen size is is mobile sized. Passes google mobile friendly test perfectly.

I do totally disagree with Google's requirement of that auto redirect though. As an iPhone user I hate when I get thrown into a mobile version. But Google is doing this for their benefit and not the customers - it makes it easier for them to vet a site.