Responsive web design ensures that your website content automatically changes size to fit the screen of the device it’s being viewed on. This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many businesses have non-responsive websites and lose out on customers as a result.
Today’s consumers are always on-the-go, meaning that mobile devices account for 54.8% of global website traffic. Those are some numbers you don’t want to miss out on! We’ve all been on a website that’s not mobile friendly which makes it awkward to read and navigate through. The experience leaves you with a poor impression of the business, and you’re therefore less likely to visit or make a purchase.
We’ve put together a list of some of the key benefits of responsive web design.
You only have to consider how you use the internet on a daily basis to understand how important it is that a company website is responsive and works as well on mobiles and tablets as it does on desktops. Things have changed a lot in the past ten years. These days we do our online shopping, banking and social media browsing on our phones. If you’re out and about and realise you need a specific product or service, you carry out a quick search on your mobile, and will often make the online purchase then and there. If a website doesn’t work well on mobile, you’re not going to wait till you get home and visit the site again on a desktop. You’re going to leave the site and make the purchase on a competitor’s site instead.
A responsive website enhances the user experience. It enables the visitor – your potential customer – to navigate the website easily no matter what device they are browsing on, meaning that they are likely to spend longer on your website, with more potential to convert them into customers. Visitors are also much more likely to return to a website that works seamlessly on all devices.
Another great benefit is that if a user is browsing products but isn’t ready to make a purchase, they can always revisit the website another time from a different device and all the content will be in a similar format, enabling them to quickly access the pages they visited previously.
A website is a big investment and you want it to run as smoothly as possible to make the path to purchase easy for your users. Imagine putting a huge budget behind a brand new website and a great marketing campaign only for your potential customers to fall through the gaps over something so simple!
As usual, SEO is one of the key players in this list of benefits. Since 2015, mobile-friendly websites have been a ranking factor in Google search algorithms. As of 2019, Google has implemented mobile-first indexing strategies, meaning that Google actually uses the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking on the search pages, rather than the desktop version. As a consequence, it’s now more important than ever to have a responsive website that works well on all devices, as Google considers mobile-friendly content to have the most significance when calculating Search Engine Ranking Pages.
Up until a few years ago, companies regularly created separate websites for mobile and non-mobile usage. Although some businesses still use this method, with responsive web design it’s no longer a necessity. Businesses can now invest in one great website which is accessible to users on all devices, saving time and money. When changes need to be made to the website, this can be done quickly and easily rather than having to make edits on several different sites.
A responsive website offers flexibility for the future. Screen sizes and technology trends change all the time, and with responsive web design you don’t have to worry that your website won’t be supported on the latest devices.
Now you have a good idea of what responsive web design is and why it’s essential, why not get in touch with our team of dedicated experts to discuss creating a brand new responsive website for your small business!
