7-minute read
There is a lot of talk surrounding responsive web design nowadays. But if you’re not familiar with the web design industry, then you may not realize what this is or why you can’t afford to ignore it. Luckily, we’re to provide you with a detailed guide on why you need to start paying attention to the advancement of responsive web design and ensure that you integrate it into your company’s own site.
What Is Responsive Web Design?
Before we get to why responsive web design is critical for any online business nowadays, we should first discuss exactly what it is. While web design is the basic premise of creating a website that your customers can use to contact or do business with you, responsive web design refers to creating a version of your website that is able to instantly adapt to any screen size.
So, someone who accesses your website on their desktop should have a very similar experience to someone who looks at the website on their smartphone or tablet. This is known as responsive design because the website is instantly responding to the change in screen size by reworking its aspect ratios and general layout to perfectly fit whatever size of screen a person might be using.
There are some people who try to substitute a responsive design by simply creating a mobile version of their site in addition to the static desktop version. However, this isn’t going to cut it because it is only going to work with a very specific set of dimensions. Therefore, someone visiting the website on a large smartphone will not be able to use the website as easily as someone with a smaller smartphone or vice versa.
Increasing Number of Mobile Shoppers
Many of the websites that do not possess a responsive design were either made quite recently or are at least 15 or 20 years old when mobile shopping wasn’t a popular thing. However, we are now at a time when mobile shopping is quickly becoming the preferred method of shopping for many consumers.
In the United States alone, it is estimated about 45 percent of all e-commerce sales are made through mobile devices. Therefore, having a website without a responsive design means that you are going to be ignoring nearly half of your entire customer base.
This is going to be even more important if your company operates internationally since many other countries have mobile shopping that is just as big if not larger than the U.S. With there now being over almost 6 billion mobile users in the entire world, having a responsive web design has become a necessary element for any successful business. Because otherwise, you are delivering a subpar mobile shopping experience to 6 billion potential customers.
Better Search Engine Rankings
Although there are many different search engines that someone could be using on their mobile devices, there is no doubt that one ranks far higher than any others. If you need further convincing, just take a look at this statistic that states that Google is responsible for approximately 92 percent of all mobile internet searches each year.
What makes this statistic so important is the fact that Google has been known to penalize any website that lacks a responsive design. It does so by putting them lower on the search results pages than websites that do have a responsive design. Therefore, if someone is using their mobile device to try and search for a product or service that you offer, they may not end up seeing your website in the search results if you do not have a responsive design.
Instead, you’ll show up on the second or even third page of results, where 75 percent of consumers never go. And if no one is seeing your website, then your number of conversions is going to take a very big hit. That is why you need to prioritize the integration of a responsive website design so that you can increase the chances of showing up on the first page of search results.
Reduction of Mobile Bounce Rates
Having a high bounce rate is extremely damaging to an online business because it means your number of visits might climb but your conversion ratio will plummet. And at the end of the day, it is the number of paying customers that you have that matters the most since these are the people who are actually helping you pay the bills and stay in business.
Therefore, you need to make sure that your users, whether they are shopping on mobile or desktop devices, are being provided with high-quality website experiences. But this will be impossible when you don’t have a responsive website design.
This will cause your website to appear clunky and generally unattractive to your mobile visitors, which means that they are much more likely to leave your site for one with a mobile user-friendly design. So make sure you keep your bounce rate as low as possible by introducing a responsive design to your website.
Encourages Positive Word of Mouth
One of the best forms of advertising that your company can have is word of mouth by your current customers. In fact, 92 percent of consumers actually trust recommendations from their friends and family more than advertisements. So, not only are you spreading your brand effectively, but it also isn’t costing you a single dime to do it.
However, customers will only recommend your business to other people if they have a positive experience. Therefore, you need to make sure that your website is set up to allow someone on any device to effortlessly navigate the site. In order to accomplish this, you’ll need a responsive web design.
These various benefits make it clear that you do not want to be ignoring the value of having a responsive web design.
