Web design has come a long way over the past couple of decades. Designs that worked well just ten years ago can now be hopelessly out of date, and businesses that want to stay ahead of their competitors face many challenges when it comes to keeping their online presence up-to-date.
The rise of smartphones has made the world of website development even more complex, as websites must now be capable of being viewed and accessed effortlessly via a much smaller screen. This is where responsive website design comes in.
The Rise of Mobile Friendly Websites
Just 10 years ago, mobile phones were very different from those that we carry around in our pockets today. Many handsets only offered very basic functionality, and those that were capable of accessing the internet only did so in a limited way. This means that website designers didn’t need to consider how their pages would look on anything other than a laptop or regular PC screen. It was only when the smartphone arrived that the website development sector went through a revolutionary change.
Suddenly, consumers were trying to access their favourite brand’s web pages from the palm of their hand while on the go, and we're finding that those websites simply weren’t up to scratch. Some were entirely inaccessible, others had parts missing, couldn’t properly be viewed, or were unusable in their existing state. This led to a call for mobile-friendly websites that could be viewed perfectly regardless of screen type or size.
The result was a move towards responsive website design, with web designers taking great pains to ensure that websites and webpages could adapt to different screen types seamlessly and deliver a great user experience on any device from a laptop to a smartphone.
How Do Responsive Web Designs Work?
Sometimes known as RWD design, responsive web design works via CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), using a range of settings that serve a range of style properties to suit the screen orientation, size, colour capability, and resolution of the device the user is operating. By adopting CSS, websites can be viewed and used exactly as they would be on a PC screen on a tablet or smartphone with a much smaller, differently shaped screen.
Why Is Responsive Web Design Important?
For both business owners and web designers, responsive web design couldn’t be more important. For a start, it means that web developers, web designers, and user interface designers don’t need to create different websites for each and every device out there on the market today. Furthermore, it makes advertisers, marketers, and business owners’ lives much easier.
Some of the great benefits that come with adopting a responsive web design include:
A single site can be used for all devices – whether the user views the website on an Android phone or on a MacBook, they will see it perfectly as it will have been configured to ensure optimal viewing for the user.
Optimal designs for devices – thanks to the innovative approach to responsive web design, all fonts, images, and HTML elements are appropriately scaled to maximise the size of the screen the user is viewing.
No redirects are needed – one approach that can be used to design websites for multiple different devices requires redirects to be used, sending the user on to the right version of the web page for their device. As responsive web design eliminates any need to have redirects, users can quickly access their desired content without any delays.
Responsive design is cost-effective – when it comes to pricing, it’s not only cheaper to adopt a responsive web design, but also simpler to manage since it’s a single site instead of two or more. This means there’s no need to make changes twice as the single website can be updated with ease.
Would My Business Benefit from a Responsive Website?
If your business doesn’t already have a mobile-friendly website, it’s definitely time to consider making a change. There are more than 55 million people in the UK who use smartphones to view the internet, and if your site isn’t responsive, it won’t be easy for those people to view. This means you could be losing a lot of valuable business.
Statistics have shown that 61% of consumers won’t stay on a website if it isn’t mobile-friendly, while 67% of consumers would prefer to buy products from responsive websites. The Google search engine also ranks websites that are mobile-friendly above those that aren’t in their search results, so you could easily be missing out on customers who are visiting responsive websites set up by your competitors instead.
If your business already has a mobile website, that’s a step in the right direction, but in today’s modern connected world it isn’t the best option. A mobile website may be solely designed for people using mobile phones to view your website, but it won’t offer them the same kind of seamless user experience as a responsive website. A responsive site will work perfectly whichever kind of device it is being viewed on, with all of the site’s pages being available to all viewers.
Also, a responsive website will load more quickly than a mobile website which will save valuable time and encourage visitors to remain on your website. Around 40% of consumers will abandon a site if it takes longer than three seconds to load, and you don’t want to miss out on that amount of revenue.
Investing in just one responsive website will be less time-consuming and more effective than maintaining separate mobile and desktop website versions. For a start, there will only be a single website to update and maintain, and only one site will need to be search engine optimised, meaning that SEO Liverpool efforts don’t get diluted.
Our responsive website design services are the perfect choice for your business. With our help your website will:
Function seamlessly and look perfect on all types of devices.
Allow customers to easily and quickly find what they’re searching for.
Display booking forms, social media feeds and videos seamlessly.
Contact our professional team to find out more about what we can offer.