Responsive Design

What is responsive design?

Google has officially recommended Responsive Web Design as their preferred method for building mobile websites. If you have a website or a blog, it is time that you seriously consider switching to a responsive design instead of maintaining a separate mobile-friendly (or tablet-friendly) website.

Todays' web users are accessing web-based information on a variety of screen sizes. To address the needs of web properties to reach desktop computer users as well as users of mobile devices such as tablets or smartphones, responsive design has been integrated into current browser technology. By using media queries and CSS 3 techniques, a website can alter its' presentation to fit the screen size of the user. This results in a higher retention rate and a better overall user experience.

With over 4 billion smartphones, there are nearly as many connected mobile devices accessing the internet as there are people on earth. By the year 2014, if predictions hold true, mobile web visits will exceed those form desktop or laptop devices.

What does all this mean for business website owners?

The old days of having a single website optimized for the usual web browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and others are now over. Now you have to concern yourself with providing a cross-browser experince AND a variety of different browsers and versions there are but also a new dimension of different screen sizes and devices that are being used.

So the way your website looks on a device will be different all the time and that means that it is not fun or easy to use. Statistics consistently show that users are not wasting their time on websites that don’t work well on whatever device they are using. Approximately 75% of users prefer a mobile-friendly site.”

How Can Responsive Web Design Make Life Easier?

1. No Pinching and Squeezing

If you go to your website on an iPhone or Android device it will squish the site down so that you can see the entire page without scrolling around. The problem is that you can’t read anything either. So if you want to actually see the text you have to do a lot of pinching and squeezing and then scrolling with your finger. Trying to press a tiny little text link with your fingers on the little screen is likely to make you frustrated.

With a responsive design your site will automatically size to fit the screen without reducing the size of your text. The menu, content, and other aspects are programmed to display for the most optimized visitor experience.

2. Maintain One Complete Set of Content

Before responsive web design, if you wanted a mobile friendly site you needed to actually have 2 completely different websites. For example, if you visit a site on your desktop or your mobile phone, you are actually seeing two unique websites, each optimized for viewing on different screen sizes. The content on the sites are different and because the mobile site is optimized for an iPhone screen size, it will appear different or may look odd if you are viewing it from an Android, or tablet device with a different screen resolution.

With responsive design there is no more need to maintain separate content on two separate websites. When you change or add content to your website, you do not need to remember to change it on your mobile site as it is all part of the same application.

3. Your Business Phone Will Ring More Often

Responsive website design will activate your phone number so that when you click on the number your phone will ask if you would like to call that number. So with just a couple quick taps on the screen your phone will be ringing.

4. You Will See a Faster & Bigger Return on Investment

Your new responsive website will be easier to use and all the architecture, design & intelligence that went into building your website carries over to the mobile devices.

Navigation is made easier, reading is simple, and functionality is programmed to work effectively with your mobile device. So your mobile-friendly website is geared up to reel in more qualified leads for your business.

Contact us today to discuss your project details and see how we can take your online needs to the next level.

Contact us today for a no-obligation consultation.