Fix Mobile Layout Problem

The Problem

Your site looks fine on a desktop monitor but something breaks on a phone — text runs off the screen, a menu doesn't open, buttons are too small to tap, or a section just looks cramped and wrong — and most visitors today are on mobile first.

About this problem

Mobile layout bugs usually come from content or elements that were designed and tested only on a wide desktop screen, with the assumption that "responsive" theme settings would handle the rest automatically. In practice, a fixed-width element, an image that doesn't scale, or a menu that depends on hover (which doesn't exist on touchscreens) all slip through that assumption.

It's especially common after adding a new section, embed, or widget that wasn't tested on an actual phone before publishing.

What's Included

• Testing the affected page on real mobile viewport sizes, not just a resized desktop window
• Identifying the specific element or rule causing the problem on mobile
• Fixing it without breaking the desktop layout that already works
• Checking touch interactions specifically (menus, buttons, forms) rather than just visual appearance

What's NOT Included

• A full mobile-first redesign of your site — this fixes a specific described problem
• Native app development — this is about your website, viewed in a mobile browser
• Performance optimisation for mobile data speeds (a separate, related service)

How It Works

1. Reproduce the issue using real mobile device emulation (not just a narrow desktop browser window, which can hide touch-specific bugs).
2. Identify whether the cause is a fixed-width element, a missing media query, a hover-dependent interaction, or an image/embed that doesn't scale.
3. Apply a fix scoped to the mobile breakpoint so the working desktop layout isn't disturbed.
4. Specifically test touch interactions — tappable menu items, form fields, buttons — not just visual appearance.
5. Check across a couple of common screen sizes (a small phone and a larger one) to confirm the fix holds.

In practice: you buy the service, send over whatever access or details the job needs, I investigate and do the work, and you confirm it's resolved before we call it done.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my menu not open on mobile but works fine on desktop?

Mobile menus often rely on a tap/click event or a hamburger icon that needs separate JavaScript from the desktop hover-based menu — if that script is missing or broken, the menu simply won't respond to touch.

Why does text run off the screen on my phone?

Usually a fixed-width element (an image, a table, a long unbroken word or URL) that doesn't shrink to fit the viewport — the fix is making that specific element responsive, not just the page as a whole.

Is my website automatically mobile-friendly if my theme says it's responsive?

Not entirely — a responsive theme handles the general layout, but specific content you've added (embeds, custom sections, images) can still behave badly on mobile unless they're tested individually.

Why do my buttons look fine but are hard to tap on a phone?

This is usually a touch-target sizing issue — a button might look fine visually but have a very small actual tappable area, which is a separate thing from how it looks.

Does Google penalise websites with mobile layout problems?

Google primarily indexes and ranks based on the mobile version of your site, so a broken mobile layout can directly affect how your site is evaluated and shown in search results.

Can I just hide a broken section on mobile instead of fixing it?

That's sometimes a reasonable short-term option if the content isn't essential on mobile, and I can set that up if you'd rather not fix the underlying layout issue right away.