Responsive web design and everything you need to know

2013 was the year of responsive design and this year is no different. Recent years have shown that web tech are changing drastically from month to month. Now in 2014 no new web design should launch without a responsive design.

Mobile sites have been common in the last few years. However, the time has come where a separate mobile site should not be used instead of a responsive site for new developments. Of course, if you've got an antiquated developed website a mobile version can be everybody bit as good for a quick resolve if necessary.

If you've got an old site, 2014is a great time to get your site re-developed. If it's a content managed site, e-commerce or web software, responsive is key.

Why now?

Well all we have to do is take Google analytics sample data from all sites and we see a pretty much standard 50% of users now using websites from their mobiles or tablets. The fact that half of your visits could potentially be leaving your site because it's not suitable for viewing on their mobile is quite a concerning statistic. Many visitors will browse the internet while on the go, they may save the site in their bookmarks and come back later to make a purchase on their mobile device.

What are the downsides of responsive sites?

For many developers, responsive sites can sometimes be time consuming to develop as careful work is required for every platform. However, skilled developers should be able set this work as a minimum and quite often little or no increase in cost to the customer.

Who benefits from a responsive website?

You must know the answer, every one of your website visitors of course. The biggest type though has to be e-commerce sites. While people will browse around on their phone and maybe come back later on their desktop to make a purchase, the biggest issue online shops could suffer from is a loss of sales. If you as a site can ensure that your content is easily readable on phones or tablets, then you could secure that sale then and there.

You may get many visitors who won’t buy at the time but the fact remains, if your site is easy to navigate, they will spend longer browsing and your site will stick in their head. As a result, they will return to make a purchase either for the item they are looking for or in the future for other products.

Will it help SEO?

There is strong evidence that responsive sites will a large factor in 2014 for rankings. If you think of yourself as a search engine then the answer is easy. Ask yourself, which sites would you like to see at the top when you search. Ones that are most applicable and ones that take usability and finding information quickly. A mobile friendly site will do just that.

We predict that this year may be the year that rankings change depending on the device you’re browsing for.

The Bottom Line

The fact remains that a responsive site will do no harm. You may be doing everything right in your marketing from Social media to advertising, but your website is key and you should ensure that it meets the needs of the user. The user needs responsive, it is the way forward.