Fluid Website Vs Fixed Width Websites – Making The Decision

Fluid websites are websites that stretch over (or compress) to fit in the entire space of the browser of the user. Since different browsers will have different sizes, the fluid website is a good option if you want your webpage to show at page width in the browser. Fixed width websites, on the other hand, have the same width, no matter what the browser width is. However, both of these have their relative merits and demerits. That is the reason webmasters are never sure which one they must opt for.

Let us compare the relative pros and cons of the fluid websites and the fixed width websites, which will help you arrive at a decision.

Fluid Websites
Fluid websites fit in to the whole page of the browser, so the user does not need to scroll horizontally. The page becomes dynamically responsive to parameters such as font size. The user won’t need to alter the font size since the fluid website will fit in to provide the optimal font size.

But, there could be disorientation and overlapping of text and images in a bid to make the best fit on the page. Also, the dynamic sizing of font could be inconvenient to the user, who may have to alter it manually, leading to further overlapping between text and images.

Fixed Width Websites
These bring uniformity in your webpages. You can control the images and other elements of your page better because they are static on the page. Also, you are sure of what size the fonts will display on the page.

The images won’t seem overlarge on small monitors, but the user may need to scroll horizontally to read the whole line, which could be very uncomfortable. If the user tries to change the font size, the whole layout may be disturbed too.

In conclusion, it is your personal preference what layout you use for your website – fixed width or fluid. Keep their pros and cons when making the decision.