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!