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Responsive Web Design: Get On Board or Lose Visitors

Not too long ago, we only accessed websites via desktop PCs, whether it is Windows or Mac. Because these devices are large, designers also created large websites that occupy the entire screen. However, as time passed and technology advanced, we’ve seen the introduction of smart phones and tablet devices, making desktop PCs old news when it comes to accessing the Internet. These devices changed the demand of web design and gave birth to “responsive web design”.

By embracing this, you are reaching out to the rapidly growing mobile market. This is why Ignition Media only create responsive websites to give our Gold Coast clients the best chance of succeeding online.

What is responsive web design?

Responsive web design is a technique, way of coding, or approach to designing a website to react to the size of the screen it is being viewed at. Simply put, regardless of what type of device the website is being accessed in, the user sees the same elements, from media files to text.

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How do you know that your website is considered responsive?

  • The resolution of your images adjusts to that of the screen. This simply means that if the colours of the images appear bright and crisp when viewed in a desktop, they should also have the same quality when seen in tablets or mobile phones.
  • Grids change according to the size of the screen. Websites operate on a grid. You can consider it as an imaginary border or boundary, and all elements should stay within the grid, properly laid out for quick and convenient viewing or reading. The grid should be “fluid,” especially since screen sizes these days greatly vary.
  • Images should be fluid as well. The image size must adjust based on the grid changes. For example, the size should “shrink” if a website is accessed in a smart phone, where a typical screen size is around 4 inches only.

Benefits of Responsive Web Design

Everyone who owns a website should consider looking into responsive website design for the following reasons:

It increases your reach

It is expected that sales volume for tablets this year will already be more than 100 million. Meanwhile, in Australia, according to ACMA, over 12 million have a smart phone, a sharp increase of almost 9% the previous year.

Responsive web design therefore allows you to take advantage of this already large market.

It helps you retain your customer base

Many experts predict that within the next few years, there will be more people using mobile phones to access the internet than desktops. In other words, there may come a time when those desktop PCs will become obsolete.

Although there is still a large number of people that spend most online activities in desktop PCs, those who use mobile devices for the same thing continue to grow. According to StatCounter, for example, at least 1 in every five people who visit websites uses a mobile device to browse and even shop!

Now just imagine if your website design is not responsive. You are going to miss the chance to make a sale, engage your customers, or encourage them to refer your business to their network. If this happens, then it is going to be costly for you. It is common knowledge that you spend less when you retain rather than look for new customers.

You don’t have to make different version of your websites

One of the beauties of responsive web design is you are no longer compelled to design various websites to suit different sizes of the screen. Using CSS, you can simply apply media queries so it renders the layout that fits best to the screen size.

This saves you a lot of time, energy and money. Maintaining the website will also be a lot easier.

You can significantly enhance customer experience

Have you encountered mobile websites where you need to scroll up and down, zoom in and out, and do other things just to see or read the content you are looking for? It is exhausting and you’re less likely to visit it again.

Responsive web design is what you need if you want to promote and improve customer experience. If you make your customers happy at any given time, you can expect them to keep on coming back and even convince others to check your Gold Coast business out too.

To find out if your current website is mobile-friendly, test it on Google’s cool new tool: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

Conclusion

To upgrade to responsive web design is not only to ride with the trends but to meet the changing needs of your target market in how content is displayed. It is your responsibility to provide an amazing customer experience whether they are using desktop or mobile device. It also allows you to remain competitive and give your business a strong fighting chance.

Ignition Media specialises in responsive websites on the Gold Coast and use Foundation and Bootstrap responsive HTML framework to create our awesome websites. For more information, please visit our mobile websites page.

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