Why Your Business Needs A Responsive Website?

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Today, users can browse the internet through desktops, tablets, mobile devices, and laptops. However, a couple of years back, desktops or laptops were the medium where a customer interacted with an online business. With the innovation in mobile devices, users can shop, connect, or engage instantly. This change in users’ behaviour has prompted business owners worldwide to optimize their websites for every device. This means the user experience on the desktop should be equal or par on the mobile devices.

To offer a website that allows your target customers to take the desired action, you need to invest in responsive design. It is a web concept that allows your website pages to load on a variety of devices and window or screen sizes. If you are curious to know how this web concept can support your business to engage customers, read till the end. Let’s start.

What is Responsive web design?

Responsive design: It is a web design concept that allows users to view and interact with your websites across multiple devices. This design allows easy reading and navigation with minimum resizing, panning, and scrolling. A responsive website adjusts its layout as per the device’s screen dimension. The components of responsive design that make it possible are fluid grid layouts, flexible images, and media queries. 

Components of Responsive Web Design

The components that provide the flexibility to the responsive designs are as follows:

Fluid grid layout:

One of the critical components of responsive design is the use of a fluid grid layout. The traditional web design used fixed-width layouts, which posed a problem when loading on multiple devices. On the other hand, fluid grids use percentages to define the column width. This allows the web pages to adjust as per the different screen sizes and orientations.

Flexible images and media: 

In addition to the fluid grids, responsive design uses flexible images and media. By using CSS, the size of the images and videos can be controlled. These elements can scale up or down based on the screen size. This ensures the layout of the given website fits perfectly with the users’ screen. 

Media queries:

Media queries are CSS3 modules that allow content to adapt to the screen resolution of the device. This component allows the designer to apply different styles on the basis of the device used to view the website. 

 Benefits of Responsive Web Design

Enhanced user experience:

A responsive website offers a seamless surfing experience to users across all devices. Whether your target audiences browse your websites from mobile or desktop, the layout and content will adjust to fit the screen size. This makes it easier for them to navigate and consume your content. 

Improved SEO performance:

Did you know Google favours mobile-friendly websites on its search results? The reason is simple: for Google, the experience of the users comes first. It aims to deliver results that are relevant, helpful, and easily accessible to the users. By opting for a responsive design, you can improve the online presence and ranking of your website for more opportunities to engage and convert. 

Cost-effectiveness:

Maintaining a single website is more cost effective than creating multiple versions of your site for different devices. With responsive design, you only need to update your website once, and the changes will be reflected across all devices. 

Increased reach and accessibility:

With the shift in the user’s behaviour to use mobile devices to browse the internet, responsive design is a must. Did you know the major portion of traffic enjoyed by websites comes from mobile devices? So, missing the train of responsive design can prove detrimental to your business. Optimize your website with this user-friendly design to tap the traffic coming from mobile devices. 

Brand reputation:

A responsive website can reflect positively on your brand. It shows that you are up to date with the latest trends in website design and care for the browsing experience of your visitors. In contrast to this, a non-responsive website can make your brand appear outdated and less professional, which can force the visitors to look for other options. 

Fast loading time: 

Responsive websites tend to have a faster loading speed than responsive websites, especially on mobile devices. This is because, in responsive design, the delivery of content is based on the device’s screen size and resolution. This ensures a smoother and more efficient user experience. 

Ease of maintenance:

Managing and updating content on a single website is easier. A single change made on your responsive website is applied across all website versions. However, when it comes to a non-responsive website, you need to make the changes on every other version of your site. This can be bothersome and may require additional resources to achieve the goals.  

Increased conversion rates:

A responsive website can lead to higher conversion rates. When you make it easier for your visitors to navigate and consume the content, they will be more likely to stay and take action. A user-friendly website has the power to win the trust of visitors and make them your loyal fans. 

Analytic and tracking:

Responsive websites allow you to track and assess users’ behaviour across multiple devices using unified tracking codes. This helps you gain valuable insights into how the users interact with your site. Knowing these data can help you optimize your offerings for better targeting.

Future-proofing:

By opting for responsive design, you can proofread your website against new devices and screen sizes. So when a new device gets launched in the market, your website will be ready to offer the same user-friendly experience on it. Also, this saves you resources from redesigning your website again and again. 

Case studies and examples

There are many such examples where a business switched to responsive design and enjoyed the benefits that flow. One of the examples that stands out is Walmart Canada. Walmart Canada received a lot of traffic from tablets and other mobile devices. However, the problem was that their website was not optimized for responsive design. Noticing this, the company optimized its website for mobile use. The result was a 20% boost in conversions and a 98% rise in mobile orders. 

How to implement Responsive web design?

Implementing responsive web design involves several key points. They are as follows.

Plan your layout:

Begin by planning your site layout with the help of a fluid grid system. This will ensure your website responses as per the unique screen size of the device used. 

Use flexible images and media:

Use CSS to control the size of images and media on the website. This will ensure your site’s content will scale up or down according to the screen size. 

Use Media queries:

Use CSS3 to apply styles based on the type of digital devices used to explore the website. 

Test your design: 

Ultimately, ensure your website works perfectly fine across various devices. If it fails to work correctly on a few devices, ensure the problem is solved before you launch the website live. 

What are the challenges and considerations of Responsive web design? 

While responsive design comes with many benefits, it also comes with its own set of challenges and considerations. Some of them are listed as follows: 

Performance: 

Ensuring your website performs well across all devices is challenging. This is especially true when dealing with large images and media files.

Browser compatibility:

Another factor to consider is whether your website renders correctly on all major browsers. This is because different browsers may interpret CSS rules differently. 

Complexity: 

Implementing responsive web design can be more complex than traditional web design, especially for large and complex websites. 

Final Words!

To sum up, responsive web design is critical to modern web design. Opting for this web design has many benefits, such as enhanced UX, improved SEO, cost-effectiveness, etc. Offer your website visitor experience at par with that of a desktop, where your website gives the same browsing experience to the users. Finally, by implementing responsive design, you can future-proof your website for the latest devices. You can be confident that your website adjusts its layout and content as per the unique screen size of the device. Now that you have a basic understanding of how a responsive design can help you engage your visitors better, why with any further? Search for the top web designers in the area, such as Kinex Media, to optimize your website for the good. 

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