I don’t think there has ever been so much pressure on making your website compatible with smartphones, tablets, and any other device that handles mobile data. I myself have written on the subject quite a few times this year, with the most recent title being one where I talk about unmistakable advantages of mobile-friendly websites.
The road ahead has been quite interesting, inspirational at the worst of times, and highly rewarding at the best. Modifying your WordPress blog has never been easier, and even if you can’t afford a theme that has mobile support integrated by default, we can use any of these WordPress plugins for the purpose of making your website mobile-friendly.
It’s not just about the endless benefits of having a mobile-ready website, the fact of the matter is – smartphones have been around for a long time, and they’re becoming a part of the human lives, especially the newer generations. It so happens that consuming information this way is much more efficient, and less time consuming.
Earlier this year, I published two infographics on the state of mobile on the web, and the results are astonishing. I recommend that you study both infographics with care, and see for yourself the incredible potential for both eCommerce sales, and a much higher readership ratio. Remember, design is how you use the application.
Mobile Pack 2.0
It has been downloaded over 600,000 times, so you can rest assured that this plugin is in great demand, and provides enough functionality to be among the top mobile-enabling plugins for WordPress. I’ve not built this list of plugins based on any criteria, so they’re coming as they come. No judgement!
The WordPress Mobile Pack 2.0 eliminates the hassle of dealing with high development costs, approval processes with various app stores, poor discoverability due to the closed environment of native apps and finally, one of the biggest injustices aimed towards the publishing industry in general – the shared revenue constraint.
The real gem within this plugin is not the ability to transform your site into a responsive blog, but you can actually build your own blog application with it; which will totally change the way the user is perceiving and consuming your content. The FAQ page has got more detail on how it works.
WPtouch 3
Nearly six million downloads, I think that speaks for itself. WPtouch is probably the oldest plugin in this list, and has managed to maintain a healthy and active community of supporters behind it. Yes, there is a PRO version available, but we’re focusing on free plugins; got to stick to the budget!
The way it works is that you download and install the plugin, and then get a little configuration panel from within the admin dashboard. You can adjust your preferences and settings there, but by default – everything should work just fine. It will make your blog look like a perfectly built mobile application.
But, if you want more customization options – like custom templates – you’ll need to opt for the paid version.
Duda Mobile Website Builder
By using this plugin you will be able to build a custom looking mobile-friendly website for your blog. It’s as simple as using the Duda’s drag-and-drop editor to put together a design style that you like. Custom pages, contact details, maps, reviews, and much, much more is included in the builder.
Duda’s mobile website builder plugin provides you with access to tons of mobile-friendly features designed to make your mobile site look great, drive customer action and make customizing your site simple. All these features can be added or removed using Duda’s drag-and-drop editor.
Built with both beginners and experts in mind, it supports SEO features, keeps a good deal of your design features intact, and overall makes it easy to build a mobile-ready website on the go.
WP Mobile Detector Mobile Plugin
I think it’s one of those things that many designers and developers tend to forget about, there are more mobile devices out there than just an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy, there are literally thousands of mobile devices that support browsing the web, and because of that – we need to find a way to serve all of the mobile visitors in an equal way.
WP Mobile Detector will check against a database of 5,000 mobile devices to see if a visitor is browsing from any of those devices, and then appropriately serve a mobile page that will be both pleasant to view and experience, but also without any design flaws.
It also has a list of seven, free, themes available. I think a PRO version has been built, but the free one offers all you need to make your WordPress blog mobile-friendly.
WiziApp
I really love the fact that WordPress allows for both a responsive design, and also a custom pre-built theme to be used for displaying when a mobile device is trying to access the site. WiziApp is taking this wisdom and transforming it into something that’s easy to use, and has a high engagement rate.
I’ve to say that, while this is a really great plugin to try – it does have one tiny problem, the free version will from time-to-time display a small ad on behalf of the WiziApp team. As for me personally, it’s not that big of a deal, but it’s still big enough to take note of. You don’t really want any surprises like that.
But, to make up for that – WiziApp enables you to build an iPhone or an Android application, which can then act as a way for your readers to read your latest articles. The apps built by this plugin will be qualified to be accepted on the App Store and Play Store. Pretty cool!
Building a Mobile-Friendly WordPress With Plugins
I hope that at least one of these seemed appealing enough for you to download and try it out. I’ve tried to include the maximum variety, with the least amount of plugins to try. It can be painful to go through twenty different plugins, just to realize they’re all the same and don’t fit your needs.
Plus, it’s nice to see that there is the option to build your own mobile application, as those are also becoming a bit of a trend. I hope you’ll join the conversation with your own suggestions for plugins to use when it comes to building a mobile-friendly WordPress blog, although feedback on any of the plugins in this list is also highly encouraged.
Nice article and thanks for sharing. Another way (to add) is to use mobile responsive themes. Therefore, you can easily save one plugin space.
Overall, keep it up and loving it!
Yep, I kind of flew past that statement, I’ve now added it as a separate h3 heading. Thanks!
great plugins very important issue.
every site need to be mobile friendly.
people buy trough mobile or just brows ?