My campground website doesn't work on phones. What now?
Most of your visitors are on a phone, so this is the most expensive problem on this list. The first question is whether it can be patched.
SHORT ANSWER
First find out whether it was built responsively at all. If the site was built after roughly 2016 on a mainstream platform, it probably was and something specific is broken, which is fixable. If it predates that or uses a fixed-width layout, it cannot be patched economically and needs rebuilding. Either way, do two things today: make sure your phone number is tappable, and make sure your Google Business Profile is complete, because that is where most phone visitors see you first anyway.
Diagnose it in five minutes
- Open the site on your phone. Do you pinch and zoom to read? Fixed-width layout, needs rebuilding.
- Does it mostly work but one page is broken? Fixable, usually a table or an oversized image.
- Is the phone number plain text rather than a tap-to-call link? A quick fix, and a valuable one.
- Do the menus work with a thumb? If dropdowns need a hover, they will not work on touch.
- Run PageSpeed Insights on mobile and read the usability notes.
What is fixable
Wide tables that overflow, images that break the layout, menus that need hover, text too small, buttons too close together, and untappable phone numbers. These are individual repairs on a site that was built responsively, and they are usually hours rather than days.
What is not
A fixed-width layout from before responsive design was standard. Retrofitting one costs more than rebuilding and produces a worse result. If you pinch and zoom on every page, stop spending money on repairs and put it toward a rebuild.
What to do today either way
Two things, both free. Make your phone number a tap-to-call link on every page. And complete your Google Business Profile, because a traveler searching from their phone sees the map result before they ever see your site, and a complete profile with photos and hours carries a lot of the load while you sort the site out.
Related questions.
How do I know if my website is mobile friendly?
Open it on your phone. If you pinch and zoom to read, it is not. PageSpeed Insights also reports mobile usability problems.
Can an old website be made mobile friendly?
If it was built responsively and something specific broke, yes. If it uses a fixed-width layout, rebuilding is cheaper than retrofitting.
What percentage of campground traffic is mobile?
Typically 60 to 75 percent, higher in season and higher still for last-minute searches.
What is the quickest mobile fix?
Make the phone number tappable. It is a small change and it directly turns visitors into calls.
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