Responsive Websites

There is a great deal of clutter on the Internet. From pop-up ads to spam emails, if you cannot set yourself apart on the web, you will get lost in the white noise. And while many websites aim to make the most innovative, state-of-the-art website, the simplest things can encourage or deter an influx of traffic on a grand scale. One of these essentials is your website’s responsiveness, as this can easily make or break a page.

Let me first start by defining what exactly it means to have a mobile friendly/mobile/responsive website.  According to Wiki:

Responsive web design (RWD) is a web design approach aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience—easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling—across a wide range of devices (from mobile phones to desktop computer monitors).^[1][2][3]

A site designed with RWD^[1][4] adapts the layout to the viewing environment by using fluid, proportion-based grids,^[5] flexible images,^[6][7][8][9] and CSS3media queries,^[3][10][11] an extension of the @media rule.^[12]

• The fluid grid concept calls for page element sizing to be in relative units like percentages, rather than absolute units like pixels or points.^[5]
• Flexible images are also sized in relative units, so as to prevent them from displaying outside their containing element.^[6]
• Media queries allow the page to use different CSS style rules based on characteristics of the device the site is being displayed on, most commonly the width of the browser.
• Server-side components (RESS) in conjunction with client-side ones such as media queries can produce faster-loading sites for access over cellular networks and also deliver richer functionality/usability avoiding some of the pitfalls of device-side-only solutions.^[13]

Here is an example:

This is an example of a mobile friendly website. This is taken directly from my phone. I can read every line, I’m able to click the phone number and it will take me directly to my phone app, and I’m able to navigate easily around the website.

More Manageable

Responsive web design is superior to others if only because you have to worry about less. Responsive websites only require one Search Engine Optimization campaign and therefore can be managed all in one spot. And while there are advantages to being able to have a separate mobile campaign to focus your marketing on smartphone users, less work on managing campaigns means more focus on the things that really matter in creating a website. 

All The Devices

The age of having only one website-capable device has been gone for a while now. And while some may argue that being able to individualize websites and mobile sites, responsive websites provide a seamless user experience between all devices. Because of the many different variations of web page sizes and shapes, this dramatically improves the website’s draw.

Google Has Spoken

Not to put all of the proverbial eggs into one basket but what Google says, markets follow, and Google says responsive web design is the best. Not only do they recommend it as a mobile configuration, they view it as one the best practices in the industry.

Is your website responsive? Do you need some help navigating this? Give us a call. Let’s grab a cup of coffee and discuss your options.