Responsive Web Design has become a crucial part of any business’ ability to capture customers both on desktop and mobile. Without a mobile site that replicates that of desktop, you will be penalised and fall down the rankings.
Most people have smartphones or tablets, and many of them use those devices to access the internet when they are out and about, or even at home on the sofa. In October, mobile internet usage surpassed desktop for the fist time with a share of 53%. Every business should have a responsive web design site or risk losing potential customers.
People want access to the same information no matter what device they are using, which is why if your site isn’t optimised for mobile then you are well behind the curve.
Viewing a website on a touchscreen device can be difficult because it often requires swiping, scrolling and tapping. Businesses should use responsive design to make sure that users have a quality experience and access to all the information and they might need, regardless of they device they are using.
WHAT IS RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN?
Responsive web design means that the layout of your website on desktop resizes and replicates to the size of screen being used to view it. For example, if a website has columns of categories on desktop, it might have one longer lists on a mobile device, but all the same categories would still be there.
WHY IS RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN IMPORTANT?
Many people use more than one device to view online content on any given day. For example, when purchasing a holiday, a user will look at the same site on multiple devices across multiple days. Users expect to be able to see all the same content no matter what devices they happen to be using and to be able to do all the same things.
Having a responsive design can also help you prepare for future technological changes. New devices will inevitably be introduced, and screen sizes will vary. A website with a responsive design is fluid enough to adjust to whatever screen is used to access it.
WHY A MOBILE-ONLY SITE IS BAD
One mistake that some businesses make is having a condensed “mobile-only” site of their desktop site. If users cannot do everyone on one version or site, they will get frustrated and look elsewhere. This means you could lose sales because your website design is not responsive.
Having just a mobile-only site creates more unnecessary work for you. Having one site for mobile and one for desktop, means you need to keep updating two sites. This essentially doubles your workload. One site is much easier to manage than two.
WHAT DOES GOOGLE SAY ABOUT RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN?
Websites can be penalised by Google is your site is not optimised for mobile. In April 2015, the search engine began rewarding websites that were built responsively in SERPs. Sites that were already mobile-friendly were not affected, but those that have not made the change saw a significant drop in their rankings.
Google encourages responsive web design because it makes things easier for Google and improves the user experience. If there is only one version of a website, Google only needs to crawl and index one site. Having a responsive design also makes it easier for users to find and share content across devices, which provides a good UX.
RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN CAN IMPROVE SEO & CONVERSIONS
With mobile internet usage sky-rocketing in recent years through internet searches and social media, you want a responsive web design is you want to attract and keep users from a variety of devices. Having a responsive web design ensures visitors can get access to all features and information they want wherever they are, regardless of the device they are using. This will encourage them to stay on the site longer and potentially convert.
In terms of improving SEO, keyword performance can help you create a website with responsive web design. This will help you perform better on search rankings and thus increase your chances of increasing clicks and conversions.
Contact Beyond Clicks today to learn how we can help your business increase traffic from all devices.