More than 50% of the people searching the web in the U.S. use a mobile device and the sale of smartphones and tablets keeps increasing, up 39% in 2014 alone.
User experience on your site, called UX, is one of the essentials of SEO, or search engine optimization, which is how your site lands on the search results page when someone types in a keyword.

Put those two sets of facts together and they equal adaptive web design, the advanced technology that lets the web servers use data sent by your visitor’s mobile to decide how the page she requests is delivered. It adapts to each particular type of internet-enabled device to produce the site she wants to see in the most effective, readable manner.

It is different from a responsive web design, also called an m.dot site, in the way it is delivered to the mobile device. A responsive design is controlled by the client device and the adaptive one by the server.

With both designs, how your information is displayed depends on the size of the screen that your visitor is using. But with adaptive design, the server that your site is on is able to detect which type of device your potential customer is using. It then sends the one that displays best. It shows your website in the best possible way to your visitor.

Adaptive and Your Business

After putting in the money and time to scout entrepreneurial business opportunities, you want to make your website as accessible and engaging as possible. This is what produces sales and makes your business profitable. That means an adaptive website.

There are four big reasons you should be using an adaptive web design:

• Page speed
• Customization
• SEO friendly
• Reach more people

Here is a closer at each one.

Speed: The biggest plus with adaptive web design is that pages load faster. Visitors have short attention spans, measured in fractions of a second. Any improvement in speed enhances the chances that your visitor will stay to look over your website. This gives you a greater chance of converting a visitor to a customer.

Customization: You can create pages that are customized for the audience that uses mobiles. If the people using a smartphone or a tablet are looking for information, products or services that tend to be different from desktop users, you can customize the page accordingly. This gives you a greater chance of making a sale. The more exactly you give them what you want, the more likely it is your visitors will buy from you, share your content socially and return to your page in the future.

SEO: Google recently hit websites with a major algorithm change that basically cut out those without responsive designs. When you have an adaptive design, you won’t need to worry about anything similar happening in the future. Any new mobile algorithm adopted by the search engines will love your site. Another advantage with adaptive is that you don’t need two content management systems.

More viewers: Adaptive sites look good on older phones and lower priced models. This is not always true of responsive mobile design. It looks considerably better on the latest, higher-priced models, which means you are not offering the best user experience to a very large segment of your target audience. If you have an international audience, this could mean you are losing out big time.

Is There a Downside?

Yes, there are two negatives to switching your site to adaptive web design. First off, it is more expensive to design because you need a developer who has the know-how to produce it effectively.

The other problem is related to the first one: it is very developer-intensive. Responsive designs are relatively easy to understand and to install. But not an adaptive site—it needs a skilled developer to pull off successfully.

Should You Get an Adaptive Site?

You should most definitely be planning an adaptive site if you want to present your business opportunity in the most effective way to your target audience. The better experience they have, the more you will sell.

The cost is higher and its success depends on the skill of your developer. This means you need to shop around to find one that knows what he is doing.

Plan ahead, save up the money to do it right, ask for testimonials. Then launch yourself with the best possible mobile choice, an adaptive web design.

Make sure to read this next post: What is the Difference Between Responsive vs Adaptive Web Design?