If you have spent any time in the modern world then I am sure you are well aware of the vast amount of devices available to surf the web. From regular computers to phones to tablets, there is no limit to our ability to access the internet from any location. With these many different mediums of accessing the internet there also comes different screen sizes. As I’m sure you can imagine formatting websites to be viewable on all these different platforms is crucial to having web browsers actually use your site. This is where responsive web design comes into play.
What is Responsive Web Design?
Responsive web design is a way of formatting a website so that it automatically adjusts its contents to match the screen of the user. The benefit of this type of design is that is makes the entire website more user-friendly. That is to say that images will be the appropriate size for the screen and people on mobile devices won’t have to scroll from side to side to view the content, these are just a few ways that responsive design makes life easier for the end-user.
How Does it Work?
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The way that responsive web design actually works is a fairly simple concept. A responsive website uses what are called fluid grids. These fluid grids ensure that the content size on the screen is displayed based on the proportion rather than based on the previously used display criteria of pixels. To put this into an example, imagine that you have a website which displays three columns. Rather than determining how wide each column should be in pixels you will tell the columns how wide they should be in relation to the other columns. For instance maybe the first column should take up 80% of the page, the second should take up 15%, and the third column should take up 5%. For a slightly more in depth look at how responsive web design works and examples of it working well you can click here.
Why Should I Care?
A responsive web design is essential for all websites in the modern era for several reasons. First and foremost, it can help you to resolve issues that you might be having with your website without breaking the bank. Designing a separate website for all types of platforms would cost you unnecessary time and resources. With a responsive design your website will be more mobile-friendly without having to create an entirely new site.
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Additionally, users will no longer be forced to deal with minor annoyances. For instance, scrolling from side to side to be able to read an article. Furthermore, your website will simply look better. You website will have the intended user experience on both large and small devices. This improved user experience can lead to users spending more time on your site. Having a website that is hard to navigate can cost you customers. The minor annoyances of navigating a poorly designed website can really add up. Eventually, a frustrated user may have no reason to stay on your site.
Finally, having a responsive web design can also help with your search engine optimization. It was announced in 2015 that Google would be using mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor in their search engine algorithms. Having a website that has a high search engine rank can help to improve traffic to your website. To learn more about search engine optimization you can refer to this other blog post of ours.
Overall using a responsive web design is highly beneficial to your company. It provides an easy to manage, cost effective solution to many website issues. Also, responsive web design provides a flexible platform that improves the overall user experience. Not to mention the benefits of improving your search engine optimization ranking. A responsive web design is truly something that no company should be without. At Jonajo we can help. We have years of experience in designing beautiful and responsive web pages.
