You wouldn’t want to lock yourself out of being found by thousands of potential customers, would you? But that’s what happens when your website doesn’t make use of responsive web design.
If an outdated or improperly built website has been causing you to
miss out on the traffic you should be getting, then it’s time to get your business back on track.
Responsive Web Design is when a website layout is able to automatically adjust and adapt itself to any device or screen size. This includes desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones. They can even adapt themselves to suit more niche requirements, like game consoles or smart watches.
This doesn’t mean someone browsing a site on their phone will see the exact same thing as someone browsing the same site on a desktop computer, but it does mean they’ll both be enjoying a fully functional website.
That right there is the goal of responsive web design, to ensure everyone who visits your website enjoys the time they spend there.
So how does this work? How do you end up with a completely different website for every device web browsers might be using?
You can build a different version of your website for every device you expect web browsers to be using, but that’s called Adaptive Design. Responsive design has a single basic form of your website that is then adapted to fit the screen it appears on.
This is done using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) code that checks the current size of the browser it’s being displayed in and modifies the layout to suit. These changes work in real time as well. If you resize your browser window while viewing a responsive website, you’ll see it rearrange itself to suit the changing size of the window.
This clever trick allows any website to remain appropriate for all the circumstances it may be viewed under.
The age of desktop dominance is well and truly over, having been supplanted by mobile browsers. Mobile traffic now makes up more than half of all web traffic across the globe, and all websites need to be ready to cater to the needs of these browsers.
A responsive website enables you to be ready for all current web enabled devices, and also ensures you’re ready for whatever new formats the future may bring.
It’s also essential if you want to avoid being harshly penalised in the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). Google has been punishing mobile unfriendly websites for nearly a decade now, you just won’t be found if your website isn’t able to adapt to different devices.
Responsive web design leads to higher search rankings, more leads, more conversions, and an overall happier user base. No business can afford to be without it.
Responsive web design is an essential part of any successful website on the modern internet. Make sure your website is responsive, so you can keep enjoying all the benefits of well maintained digital presence.