What Is Responsive Web Design?

The Specifics of Responsive Website Design

Mobile devices and tablets have become increasingly popular when accessing the web. Small businesses are unable to remain competitive without a fully responsive website. The consumer wants the websites they visit to directly address their specific needs.

An unresponsive website will have the same appearance on a desktop and a smartphone because the design and style are unresponsive.

Although the website may decrease in size to fit the screen of the phone, the user will have to scroll and zoom through the site to locate the most basic features such as links, buttons, search, and navigation.

Responsive design takes mobile devices into consideration, and the site can react to the size and type of device with one content source and one URL. The layout of the website incorporates flexibility and fluidity and will adjust depending on the size of the screen. A mobile responsive site is critical to the success of the business.

Benefits of Responsive Web Design for Small Businesses

The small business competes with much larger corporations. These corporations have more funding, resources, and products to offer the consumer. This means the small business must maintain a solid base of clients while drawing in new traffic.

They must provide an excellent website experience for both desktop and mobile users. Responsive web development enables the business to show the essential information to mobile device users.

The recent algorithm update by Google must also be considered. Since responsive web design is user-friendly, it has more visibility with the search engines. This site will appear higher in search results than a non-responsive site. This will help drive more consumers to the website.

The Mobile Users

There are more mobile devices in the world than people. This makes responsive web development critical due to the high influx of mobile traffic. When a website is neglected, and not updated, the performance will suffer.

Many individuals use their mobile phones to surf the web and check their emails. The small business owner must ensure their website functions and looks just as good on a mobile phone as it does on a standard desktop.

The competition is tough, and new visitors will be lost if the website does not properly fit a small screen, or is incredibly slow when loading. A mobile responsive website has become a necessity for small businesses.

The User Experience

Fully responsive websites with responsive images will look good despite the size of the screen and this can be easily achieved by responsive image plugins for WordPress sites. The layout of the website is capable of adjusting to phones, tablets, and desktops. This ensures the website is always easy to read and navigate.

If a website is easy to use and has an attractive appearance, the user will most likely remain on the site longer. If the website takes too long to load, many users will simply go to a different website. The website must enhance the experience of the user.

Mobile Shoppers

Online shopping has become incredibly popular, and the consumers have come to trust the technology and security. Mobile users represent a large portion of online sales, and their numbers are consistently increasing. Every small business must have a website friendly to online shopping to compete.

The visitors will leave if the products are difficult to see, or if they have issues navigating the site. This essentially sends potential buyers to competitors. A responsive website results in more sales because it guarantees the experience of the shopper will be better, and they will remain on the site longer.

SEO Rankings

The fact is when it comes to search results, Google has a preference for mobile-friendly sites. Their latest updates for their algorithms provide mobile-friendly sites with a distinct advantage. This means that even if a website has ranked well in the past but is no longer responsive, it will be downgraded by Google, and the ranking will drop. Organic traffic is critical to the success of small businesses.

One penalty for a website not being responsive can cause the loss of a lot of crucial organic traffic. The only way the organic search results of a small business can remain competitive is for the website to be responsive. This will greatly increase the chances of the site being in the top search results. There are testing tools available from Google to determine if a website is considered mobile-friendly.

The Cost-Effectiveness

Numerous small business owners have refrained from updating their websites because they mistakenly believe a redesign will take a lot of time and money. Although some of the big web design agencies can be expensive when building a responsive website, there are other options.

Many of the smaller and local web agencies charge a much more reasonable price and are fully qualified to design a responsive site.

There are also website builders online for business owners with a little more computer savvy. This is an additional option for developing a responsive website. The owners of the small businesses cannot afford to keep using a website with a poor performance that is outdated and slow.

The small businesses must change with the times with user-friendly and responsive websites. Once the website has been upgraded and is functioning well and responsive. The business will be competitive well into the future.

Final Thoughts

It is not possible for any business with an online presence to succeed without a responsive website and it is going to get difficult. The exponentially increasing number of cell phones, tablet users need it. Google recommends it, and it, therefore, a wise decision to take up responsive web design.