Responsive Web Design (RWD) has been a major talking point for web designers and web driven businesses for a while now. However, if you aren’t much familiar with this term, here’s a do-it-yourself way to experience the benefits of responsive technology.
Whether you are currently reading this on your PC, tablet or any other device, try adjusting your browser to any screen dimension and see what happens. If the text, image and other contents on the webpage automatically adjust to the screen resolution without disturbing the page alignment, it means your webpage is responsive. In technical terms, it’s about creating webpages using fluid grids, flexible layouts and images that respond to the context in which they are loaded and change their user interface accordingly. Responsive web design guarantees optimal viewing experience on any device including tablets and mobile phones.
Apart from the technological aspect, RWD has a major end-user business angle to it. If you haven’t thought of taking your site responsive yet, here are a few points on why having a responsive website matters in today’s world.
The future is mobile
There was a time when having a PC and internet at home were considered luxury, when users had to uncomplainingly wait for their turn to get to comp at internet cafes, when the bandwidth was so low that even checking email required patience and time.
Fast forward 10 years. Things have changed. Internet is everywhere. The instant your mailbox gets a mail, you read it on your smart phone. Today people depend on their smart phones to carry out a plethora of daily tasks, from chatting to shopping to banking to trading, all from the palm of your hands.
Studies show that more and more internet users are shedding desktop and moving to mobile, a trend that has been on the increase in the last few years. According to Morgan Stanley Research, mobile internet users will overtake desktop users by the end of this year. Thanks to the advent of internet technologies, cheap availability of mobile phones and data plans; especially in the developing countries. The below figures makes it look obvious: ‘the future is mobile’.
One site, all devices
Every year vast number of new mobile phones, tablets, laptops and other devices are launched into the market, across the globe. Creating websites that work perfectly on each of these devices with various screen resolutions is a major challenge for web designers. Take for example Facebook, which is accessed by millions of users every day through 7000 different devices. If Facebook’s has to create separate webpages optimised for each of these devices, it will be an unending task of a lifetime. How then can we create websites that looks good on all devices? RWD is the answer!
Responsive design is a forward-thinking technology, which has the capacity to function even on devices that are yet to be launched. Websites built using responsive technology are flexible enough to automatically respond to any screen resolution. It not only ensures same user-experience across various devices, but also takes away the pain of creating different versions of a website for different devices. With RWD, businesses can have one website that covers all devices. It’s one site, all devices!
It helps improve the bottom line
Think about how your customers and prospects will interact with your business and arrive at purchase decision in the days to come. With the flourishing of internet and smart phones, today’s new age customers have access to virtually all the information they need to arrive at a purchase decision, at their fingertips. Statistics show that consumers looking for products via mobile has increased four times since 2010. That explains why more and more companies are converting their static website to responsive.
Not having a responsive website or having a poor mobile experience can be disastrous for companies attempting to build their business online. If customers find your site unappealing, they will move to your competitor’s site with no second thought. On the other hand having a mobile and tablet optimised website means that your customers and prospects can visit your website on-the-go using any device. It helps improve your site’s visibility, drives more traffic and increase sales.
Having a responsive website is no more an option, but a necessity for businesses who wish to grow their brand online. With more and more people going mobile and smart phones becoming part of the purchase decision process, having a responsive website is one of the smart ways for companies to future fool-proof their business. It is not just low on investment, but high on returns!
