We love websites. Which is a good job because we work with them every day, designing and maintaining corporate and personal blog type sites, brochure websites and ecommerce online shopping cart stores. While no two websites are ever the same, they share a commonality – the same responsive design.
You see it’s all well and good having an online presence, but if it’s not responsive in design, you’re doing your business – and your customers – a great injustice. And potentially affecting your traffic and search engine rankings too.
Google, the biggest search engine in the world, loves responsive websites. And so should you. In just a few short years they’ve transitioned from an option and a bit of a luxury into a necessity. Responsive websites rock.
Fair enough. But what is a responsive website?
That’s a good question. You know how sometimes you use your smartphone to view the internet, and other times you might use your desktop and even a tablet? Well having a responsive website design really just means your website can be viewed across different devices.
Think of it as a one-size-fits-all. A responsive website provides whoever is viewing it with the same look and feel, regardless of whether they’re accessing it from a desktop or a mobile device, and across the plethora of web browsers (Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, etc.) too.
Long gone are the days where desktop computers and laptops are the only way of accessing the internet. Viewing experience has never been more important. Lay out and coding is key to providing a website which delivers an optimal viewing experience for customers.
With a responsive website navigation, images, text and screen layouts have the ability to re-adjust themselves across a variety of devices. As web designers, it’s our job to ensure that happens by embracing a responsive design. It saves time and money in the long run because it means not having to create and maintain separate desktop and mobile versions of the same website.
Having a responsive website is a little more expensive but it’s the smarter choice. Yes, it takes longer to design, develop and test. But it’s better than having to meet the cost of designing, developing – and not to mention maintaining – two websites. So you’re actually saving yourself money in the long run.
Saving money is great. Any other benefits and advantages?
Plenty.
The benefits of responsive websites continue way beyond the initial design and development. As we touched upon earlier, Google are big, big fans of responsive design. In fact, last April the internet giant announced its intention to start demoting websites which weren’t mobile friendly. That’s a pretty big hint!
The fact is more and more people are using their tablets and smartphones for online access. According to the 2014 Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index, 66% of smartphone owners use the device to search or browse the internet at least once per day. The change in internet access, from desktop computers to portable devices cannot be overlooked. We live in a smartphone society where digital connectivity is only going to increase.
There’s no two ways about it: a responsive website is a business necessity.
Do my customers care about responsive websites?
Yes. And so should you. If your website isn’t optimised for mobiles and tablets, you could potentially lose business. If potential customers can’t navigate their way around your website easily, they will leave and likely go elsewhere. Imagine losing business to a competitor simply because their website is far better optimised for mobile users? Doesn’t sound good for business, does it?
A website which is responsive in design not only looks the business but it loads faster too. And it’s better for SEO – a way of improving your search engine rankings to help customers find you. At the end of the day, it’s all about giving the customer the best experience possible.
Before we finish, let’s go back to those earlier figures: 66% of smartphone owners use the device to search or browse the internet at least once per day.
Like it or not, mobile internet users are growing day by day. It means a chunk of your customers favour their mobile devices for their online activities over traditional desktop and laptop computers.
Still think you don’t need a mobile optimised website?
The good news is, it’s never too late to invest in a responsive website. Come and talk to us about our affordable all-in-one responsive mobile optimised website design services. We can even take care of all your copywriting requirements too.
Simply give us a call on +61 402 636 014, send an email to tadgraphics@t-adstudio.com or message us via the contact form.
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