What Is Responsive Web Design, And Why Does It Matter?
Having a website is a business essential in a technology-driven world. While in the past having a website that worked on a desktop or laptop computer was enough, this does not apply anymore. People are using portable devices such as mobile phones and tablets exclusively to do their browsing nowadays, meaning that websites are no longer operator friendly.
What Is Responsive Web Design?
That is where responsive web design comes into play. Responsive web design is an approach where a web designer creates a website or page that is able to resize itself depending on the device that it is being accessed through.
While this means that the website would align itself to fit a smaller screen such as on a phone or a tablet, it also works in the opposite way where the monitor used by a visitor is larger than the standard. Responsive web pages use a concept called fluid grids, where proportion, as opposed to pixels, determines page elements. Images are resized relative to the rest of the page.
But, Why Does It Matter?
With the significant growth in the number of people using mobile devices to access the internet, consequently the number of small screens out there are substantial. As a result, designers need to take this into consideration when putting together website designs for clients. How the device will look across multiple devices and whether it is optimised for mobile use is very important to consumers and website owners alike.
Websites that use responsive design make sites much more readable on smaller devices, with images resizing, text splitting across multiple columns and so on, making the experience a positive one for mobile users. Having a website that doesn’t have this ability can be extremely detrimental to your business, often deterring customers away from the site and encouraging them in the direction of your competitors.
Is your site responsive? If your answer is no, you need to think about moving to a responsive platform. Contact Brand+Code today to learn more about improving your website!
Three Signs It’s Time To Get A New Website
When people are searching online for a service, the company’s website is the first impression they get of the way in which the company works. Like it or not, first impressions leave the lasting impression so making sure you get it right first time with your website is very important. While you may well be perfectly content with the site you currently have (after all it took a lot of work and money to make it look that way), you may find that actually, it’s terribly outdated and could do with an upgrade.
- It isn’t very appealing to customers
If your website doesn’t look particularly good, such as when there’s inconsistency across the themes you’re using, or else the fonts across different pages don’t match up, then it’s likely that customers will be put off using the company.
An out of date site that lacks organisation and consistency can make your business appear unprofessional. This could cause a potential client to go elsewhere for the service they’re seeking.
- It’s not mobile friendly
The vast majority of internet users browse the web from their portable device, whether that be on a tablet or a mobile phone. Therefore, having a website that lacks the ability to be mobile friendly comes at a detriment to your business. The rate of traffic that comes from mobile devices currently sits at a higher percentage than desktop traffic, meaning that your website should be easy to navigate on both desktop and mobile devices.
- Your site isn’t ranking very well
SEO, or search engine optimisation, is critical as it determines just who is coming across your website in their searches. Even if your site is beautifully designed, if no one can find it because it doesn’t rank well on search engines, its design is entirely futile.
The usability – how your website presents its information to users - of your site, alongside the content and use of qualifying keywords, plays a massive role in determining what Google considers to be a successful, high ranking website.
Guilty of one of the above? Then it’s high time you got yourself a brand new website. It will only do good things to your business and its success. Need some help? Get in touch with Brand+Code today!