With the steady rise in mobile device usage and popularity, it is no surprise that most people expect your business website to be mobile-friendly at the very least. However, all mobile devices are not the same. They have various screen sizes and resolutions that can impact the quality of your website if it isn’t formatted for those viewing conditions. It is becoming essential to take it one step further by creating a website that isn’t only mobile-friendly but responsive to all devices.
Responsive website design is the process of creating a website that will automatically scale its content and elements to fit on the screen of whatever mobile device being used. The goal of responsive web design is to prevent the excessive resizing, scrolling, zooming and panning that often frustrates users when they visit a website that isn’t optimized for all devices. Failure to create a responsive website may cost you customers as they will leave your site if they are struggling to properly navigate it.
Here are the main reasons why you should consider a responsive web design for your business website:
Adapts easily to any screen
One of the key features and greatest benefits of having a responsive web design is that your web pages are automated to fit any screen size and resolution. This is not just beneficial for the current era of smartphones and tablets but think about the future of smart watches and other technological advances with internet browsing capabilities. A responsive web design also adjusts to those mediums as well.
Provides a better user experience
The ultimate goal in choosing to have a responsive web design is providing a better overall experience for your website’s visitors. No one wants to visit a site that takes forever to load and when it finally does, it requires an excessive amount of zooming and scrolling only to find photos that are the wrong resolution. It is not very likely that user will return to your website again. A better user experience translates into reduced bounce rates, boosted website conversions and improved brand perception.
It is more cost efficient
Though the cost of a responsive web design may be more expensive than your average desktop or mobile-friendly website in the beginning, you will save more money in the long run on maintenance fees. It will be a lot more cost efficient to pay for the upkeep of one site instead of two or more. Not to mention you will have more time to focus on other aspects of your business because you will only have to worry about updating a single template that will successfully translate for all of your site visitors regardless of the device they are using.
Improves SEO efforts
Google’s recommended approach for mobile web design is responsive development. This is because not only does it provide a better experience for your website users, but it gives Google’s users a higher satisfaction rate as well. In addition, Google also prefers responsive web design because it uses a single URL instead of separate ones for a desktop and mobile version.
It is also important to know that mobile phones have a different Google search algorithm than Google’s desktop platform. This means that just because your site may rank high in the search results of someone searching on a desktop, it may not rank as high in the search results on a smartphone if your site is not optimized for mobile browsing. This is a critical issue when you consider the fact that mobile searches currently overtake desktop searches.
Faster web pages
Studies show that mobile visitors tend to abandon web pages that take longer than three seconds to load. A site that is not optimized for mobile devices will take longer to load thus sending away potential customers. A responsive website that uses performance techniques such as responsive image display and caching will improve your website speed.
More mobile traffic
As stated, mobile device searches currently overtake searches done on a desktop computer. This means if you have a website that is only desktop friendly, you are limiting the amount of traffic you could receive on your site. Websites with responsive design will reach more people and increase the time that they stay on your site.
According to research done by Hubspot, 61 percent of mobile users say they will leave your website immediately if they can’t easily find what they are looking for or if a web page won’t properly load on their device. As Google drives 96% of mobile search traffic, they consider responsive web design a best practice that will improve user satisfaction rate. As mobile devices and technology continue to advance, so will the realm of responsive website design. Learn more about using your website to grow you business with our guide on website traffic.
