Each morning I wake up and start a cup of coffee on the Keurig.
Once I’ve had a few sips my brain starts kicking into gear and I am able to do my morning reading.
There are a few news sites I check out. I’ll look at Twitter to see if I missed any news overnight.
I’ll also open up the PGA Tour’s website to see if there are any new golf stories. The site, pgatour.com, has been one of my favorites for quite a few years. I remember in the early ‘00s checking the site to see when John Daly and Ty Tryon were teeing off in events.
Today, there’s a lot more content on the site. You won’t find a site with more stats. It seems like every shot any golfer has ever hit is recorded and put on the site. There are tons of videos, articles and all kinds of cool stuff.
For a golf nut like me it’s the best place to visit for golf information.
The one problem with the site is that it hadn’t been updated for quite a few years. And when I wanted to look for information on my phone the app didn’t have everything the site had and the site wasn’t very mobile-friendly.
That all changed this week when I got a nice surprise upon visiting the site.
The New Responsive PGATOUR.com
I knew something was up the moment I opened the page (pgatour.com). The top looked different and I started getting excited.
The first thing I spotted was the article announcing the update. In the article they talked about exactly the frustration I had been having on my smartphone:
Why the change? The short answer is it was time. The last significant update to PGATOUR.COM happened six years ago. Since then, the world has evolved. People look at content on smartphones, a variety of tablets and of course the traditional desktop or laptop computer. The new PGATOUR.COM works seamlessly across all devices, delivering content and site features specifically for the screen size of the device you’re using.
That is what I’m talking about. This is a big time brand focusing on smartphone users. It’s a movement that’s happening and there is no reason to ignore it.
There are studies out there talking about the importance of the smartphone experience.
Here are two recent studies:
Mobile Soars in Popularity Among Travelers Planning for Paradise
37% of travelers worldwide said they’d “definitely” use their mobile devices to purchase airline tickets, and 33% would consider doing so.
Respondents were most frustrated by small screen sizes (51%) and poor user configurations for websites and mobile apps compared with those on their computers (36%).
More than one-quarter of US travelers said they turned to their phones for destination selection and shopping, compared with less than 20% on tablets, indicating big smartphone travel opportunities in 2014.
Emerging Nations Embrace Internet, Mobile Technology
People around the world are using their cell phones for a variety of purposes, especially for texting and taking pictures, while smaller numbers also use their phones to get political, consumer and health information.
It’s hard to deny that we live in a mobile world and the trend will only continue as technology improves along with Internet access.
Responsive Design
Responsive design allows your site to deliver the same content no matter what device a visitor uses when they visit your site.
It’s extra work for the designer and developer initially (multiple designs for multiple versions), but in the long run it provides a much better experience for all users no matter the device.
The frustration with accessing websites designed for desktop experiences on smartphones is that it can be difficult to read small text and to navigate.
Even with traditional mobile sites, content was often taken off the site in order to provide a somewhat better experience for mobile visitors.
With responsive, designers now often start with the mobile template and build out to the desktop experience.
Desktop browsers aren’t going anywhere. People still use their computers to access websites and that will continue to be the case. This is out of necessity and also out of preference. It’s funny reading the comments on the PGA Tour’s article. Every time a big brand changes a website there are always people that freak out, but in this case it’s for the best.
The PGA Tour is now accessible on a smartphone while still providing a great (an arguably improved) experience to desktop visitors.
People are changing their browsing habits.
Are you changing your site to keep up?
