The trend in web design and web development for the past few years is “Responsive Web Design”. This trend is not going anywhere anytime soon, so you might as well get on the responsive website bandwagon. In fact, recent studies show that mobile web browsing has surpassed desktop web browsing. Mobile and tablet browsing now accounts for 51.7% of website traffic, with desktop browsing coming in at a mere 48.7%. Your percentages might be smaller or larger depending on your specific demographic because different websites have different needs. But in today’s world there is a huge number of visitors coming to your website from a mobile device. If you do not have a website that displays properly, you’re probably losing a lot of business.
What is responsive web design and what are responsive websites?
Responsive web design is a method that allows your website to change size and layout based on what type of device the visitor is viewing your website with. Typically, a responsive website will switch layout and navigation styles bases on the size of the user’s screen. While the text, images, and function of your site will remain the same, the way the user sees your website changes. Someone using a huge desktop monitor will see your site differently than someone using an iPhone to view your website. Most websites are laid out in a column fashion. Most websites will stick with a 2-5 column layout for ease of use. When a user on a desktop computer or laptop visits your website, they typically will see the full number of columns your website was designed with. A responsive website will convert into a single column display style based on the screen size of the user’s device. Let’s take a look at some examples, click on each image for a larger view:
This image shows the SurfYourName.com home page. You can see the slider is 100% full width and 100% responsive to the screen size of the users device. You can also see at the bottom of the website there are 4 columns. (Website Design, SEO, Social Media Management, and Consulting) On larger screen devices, like desktops, laptops, and large tablets the website will conform to the best layout.
This image was taken from my mobile phone. As you can see the layout of the website has changed based on the size of the device it is being displayed on. If you compare this image to the image on the left, you will notice the slider has re-sized itself to 100% of the screen width. The opening text has changed from a 2-column view to being stacked on top of each other. Then the 4 boxes I mentioned before, well those are now stacked in a 1-column format for easier viewing on a mobile device.
If your website does not automatically respond to the user’s screen size, then you most likely do not have a responsive website. Why is having a responsive website important? Search engines have been telling web designers and web developers that responsive websites will get better search engine rankings for some time. Search engine companies feel that a website that will display on any size device is more valuable to their rankings than a site that only looks good on a desktop or laptop. Many Surf Your Name clients get over 50% of their website visitors from mobile devices which makes having a responsive website almost mandatory for their website’s success.
We have also had new clients that came to us without a responsive website and very little mobile device traffic. Once their site was designed in a responsive layout, their website experienced a huge increase of mobile traffic. Cell phones, tablets, and other mobile devices are a huge part of our lives and are not going away anytime soon. Having your website designed in a responsive layout is vital to its success.
Our team of web designers, web developers, and programmers are very skilled in the design and operation of responsive websites and we would love to help you. Give us a call today at 910-452-6345 or click the button below to get a FREE evaluation of your website and how we can help. Even if you already have a responsive website, we can provide you with an updated performance evaluation of your website to ensure it is displaying correctly on all mobile devices.
