How to Make Your WordPress Blog Mobile-Friendly
5:23 AMMaking your blog or website mobile-friendly is especially easy to do
when you’ve built your site with WordPress. With very little effort, you
can have your blog looking great no matter which device you access it
from.
Another benefit of making the switch to mobile friendly is that it
could help your website rank higher in Google’s search results. When
someone searches using a mobile device, the results will include a
simple “Mobile friendly” tag next to your web address, letting users
know that they will be able to access all of your content easily.
Here are a few ideas to help you make the move to mobile-friendly.
You can use one of the available plugins
WordPress allows you a number of user-friendly ways to make your
website accessible on mobile devices. The simplest way is through the
use of plugins. Plugins are a big help when the content of your website
takes precedence over the design of the website. If you are overly
concerned with the design of your site, you will want to consider other
options. The following plugins will work great for helping your readers
access your important blog content, however.
WPTouch
This plugin offers both a free and a premium version for users. The
level you choose is up to you, but both versions work well. What this
plugin does is create a completely different mobile-friendly theme
anytime readers access your site from their mobile device. Your regular
desktop theme will remain untouched. This ensures your visitors will be
able to read your content easily, but don’t expect high design. The
theme included with this plugin is very basic.
WordPress Mobile Pack
This offers more depth than the previous plugin. With this, you will
have the ability to select and customize a few features of your mobile
site. Like the color scheme, for example. You can even edit your posts
and create new content from the mobile site.
Jetpack
Jetpack offers a range of services for your WordPress blog. It’s
available on every platform because it was created by WordPress.com. It
is an easy way to give your blog a mobile theme that looks clean and
runs fast. One advantage to Jetpack over the other plugins is that you
will have the option to add your own custom headers and backgrounds to
the mobile version of your website, rather than being stuck with what
the plugin gives you.
MobilePress
This is another simple plugin. It senses when a visitor is coming from a
mobile device and it will display your website in a mobile-friendly
theme. You can create a different theme for different devices if you
choose.
You can use a responsive theme for your blog
If a plugin doesn’t sound like the right option for you, you can
easily install a responsive theme. The advantage of using a responsive
theme over a simple plugin is that it is more robust and will keep your
design consistent across all platforms — mobile and desktop alike.
There are an enormous number of mobile responsive themes available
for the WordPress platform and many great looking ones are even free.
For example, the standard free themes available when you first install
your WordPress blog like Twenty Eleven and others, will give you a nice
looking — although basic — theme.
The final option available to you is to have a new theme custom
designed for you. This is, of course, the priciest option, but it will
ensure that you get all the design features that are important to you.
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