Not that many people understand what responsive website design really is. In fact some people believe that this term means just how quickly a website can respond to the clicks and drags that you do on it. What exactly is a responsive website design and why should companies who have an online presence ensure that their website does have a responsive design?
In a nutshell, responsive website design is actually the capability of a website to adjust to the browser and device it is being accessed on. For your site to be considered responsive, it should be capable of adjusting to whatever it is on – be it tablet, smartphone, or desktop computers. And no, being accessible via these platforms does not mean your site is already responsive. For it to be considered as such, it needs to be easy to look at, read, and use no matter the size of the device being used with it.
How can your website become responsive? You will need to have it designed and coded in such a way that when it is accessed with any of the abovementioned devices, it adjusts accordingly. This intelligent coding allows users to easily read and navigate through your website without their having to resize, pan, scroll, and move pages around too much. This is because when a site is responsive, it determines what is being used to access it, and the site adapts accordingly.
What can such a site do for your business and why is it recommended that you have a website that is considered responsive? For starters, the use of mobile devices for viewing webpages is not going to decline anytime soon, and is even seen to increase in the coming years. Not getting on the mobile bandwagon, so to speak, will give your competitors the leg-up on you and will only be detrimental to your bottom line.
Not only will you lose site visitors and traffic if your site is difficult to navigate with the use of other devices, but you will also stand to lose possible revenues. A responsive website design will help lower your bounce rate, save your site visitors time, and increase your sales. All of this is due to how quickly your site adjusts to the browser and device it is being viewed on, and how easily it can be navigated because of this adaptiveness.
Another good reason why making sure your website has a responsive design is needed is for customer retention. When your loyal customers can easily access and understand your website on any device they use, they become happy customers, and a happy customer is not likely to look towards your competitor for what they need since they can easily get it from you via your responsive website. Customers want convenience and ease of use, and this ensures them of both.
Apart from these, having an adaptive and responsive site will also make it easier to manage. Since you will only have one URL and one website when you make it a responsive one (as opposed to having different versions of your site for desktop and mobile), you won’t have to work twice as hard to update it, and maintain it. This is also good for your SEO efforts, your search rankings, and your overhead costs.
