Google released the latest search engine algorithm in 2015 which has now become the ranking factor of a website’s mobile friendliness. This mobile-adaptive website ranking was created to offer an enhancement to responsive pages of websites in search results. Later, Accelerated Mobile Pages was announced by Google with the objective of providing internet users an amazing mobile experience by helping load webpages faster. These two are the key reasons why responsive website designing has become the most prominent trend of web development nowadays.
Additionally, a responsive website is considered to be one of the most renowned websites that has a flexible layout and adjusts according to numerous screen sizes. Thus, it simply defines that it is a website design that resizes and responds itself based on the device being utilized to view it, be it a laptop, desktop monitor, smartphone, or a tablet. The main objective of website development is to render content separately based on the different screen size(s) and devices used to view it.
This article not only defines the tools that are used for responsive website designing but also demonstrates the importance of a responsive websites in detail.
Tools used for Responsive Website design
The incorporation of responsive templates in web designing is the best option for any user who wants to build a website on their own with limited web designing skills. There are numerous tools for responsive web design that are available in the market today. These tools make the job a lot easier for professional web designers who plan to build a website from scratch.
- Bootstrap
Bootstrap is a free, open-source framework for creating responsive, mobile-friendly websites. It is a toolkit that contains all of the elements which a user might require How to create wordpress website with responsive site. It allows the designer to pick and choose which elements the designer wants to include on the web page, making web prototyping an easy task.
Colorlib
Colorlib is a website that contains free and paid WordPress themes that any user can use to design a website. The default website builder of Colorlib provides a good starting point for website building and is a cost-effective investment in learning basic design skills.
LT Browser
LT Browser is a magnificent tool not only to test the performance but also test the functionality of your website on an enormous list of device-set. This tool delivers multitudinous processes or features of testing that may assist check any mobile website’s responsiveness.
Introduction to a Responsive Web Design
Responsive design can assist you in resolving a variety of issues with your website. It will make a website mobile-friendly, while it improves its appearance on devices with both large and small screens and directs maximum user traffic on it. Responsive design is a method of building a website that automatically scales a content’s layout and elements to fit the screen size on which it is being viewed. It prevents images from getting larger and distorted than the screen width, making it easier for users on mobile devices to read the content.
Navigating unresponsive sites is frequently difficult, and it may cost potential buyers who become frustrated due to a decrease in user experience. The ultimate aim of responsive design is to eliminate the need for unnecessary resizing, zooming, or panning that occurs on sites that are not mobile-friendly.
Responsive website as a superior investment strategy
In today’s world, we live in a multi-screen environment. As a result, a designer does not know exactly which device a user might use to access the website. Hence, a website must be viewable on as many devices as possible.
According to responsive website statistics made by Statcounter, it is a good idea to have an approach to attract both desktop and mobile users. Mobile phones now outnumber desktop machines but, this trend is expected to continue as global smartphone accessibility improves. In addition, in early 2015, Google announced that mobile-friendliness would be a ranking factor in its search engine algorithms. It means that mobile-friendly sites will prioritize in search engine rankings, which became significant for designers to provide a good experience for mobile users.
(Source: https://www.broadbandsearch.net/blog/mobile-desktop-internet-usage-statistics)
Importance of Responsive Website
With the latest technological advancement, mobile devices are now used by many people to access the Internet in comparison to desktops and laptops. As a result, the website must look convenient to navigate and function properly on tablets and smartphones, as well as desktops and laptops. Developers should aim to use the latest tools and web design tips to redesign a website to make it more responsive.
Nine reasons why Responsive Websites are important
1. Cost-effective
It may be expensive to maintain separate sites for both mobile and non-mobile users. Using a responsive design is cost-effective since a business can save money by not having to pay for a mobile site. Investing in a single responsive design can appeal to all audiences and devices.
2. Designer’s flexibility
A designer can make changes to your website quickly and easily if it has a responsive design and does not have to worry about updating two different websites. When a designer wants to make a quick design tweak or fix a typographical error on the website, this flexibility seems to be very handy since the developer has to do it only once.
3. Improved User Experience
User experience is the most important evaluation criteria for the success of a mobile-friendly website. There are numerous business reasons to implement a responsive website, but they all stem from the desire to provide a better user experience. If a web designer fails to provide a good user experience, it will cause users to have a bad time viewing and interacting with the website. As a result, it can build a negative impression, and the users will be more likely to abandon the site too soon. A web design, which does not fit properly on the user screen compelling them to pinch, zoom, and scroll to see the entire site, is usually annoying. This degrades user experience drastically. However, a better user experience increases website conversion, improves brand management, and reduces bounce rates.
For website owners, the user experience is critical. Engaging customers with an excellent user experience is the most important priority of the designer. A website should not be complex to access. A simple design is fun to use and motivates users to return next time. Unresponsive design elements on a website such as non-dynamic images and media which take forever to load make the business website appear unattractive and unprofessional.
However, a responsive design, which provides a superior user experience, can assist in persuading people to make business with the organization. With a responsive design zooming and scrolling are no longer necessary, and the content can be viewed more quickly, which causes the visitors to have a much better overall impression.
4. Search engine optimization results
Many businesses use search engine optimization, or SEO, as a strategy to improve their search page rankings on Google. A higher page ranking enables more chances that potential customers could hit the website. Not only Google, but other search engines as well favour a responsive design with a better SEO. Responsiveness, when combined with other SEO factors, can help the designer to achieve a significant boost in search engine results.
5. An increase in web traffic
According to traffic statistics, a major portion of global web traffic comes from mobile devices these days. This accounts for more than half of all Internet traffic worldwide. It demonstrates how having a website that renders properly on all mobile devices is becoming increasingly important. A responsive design significantly increases the number of visitors to a website and the length of time a user spends on it.
6. Faster page loading
People tend to abandon websites that take much longer to load content. On the other hand, a responsive design tends to load at a much faster rate, regardless of the device which is used to access it. A responsive website is built using responsive images and fluid grids, which allows faster page loading and has a direct positive impact on the length of time visitors spend on the website.
7. Increase in web conversion rates
According to research, the average smartphone conversion rate is much higher than the average desktop conversion rate. Hence, creating a responsive website with a positive user experience is essential in increasing conversion rates. A responsive web design makes a visitor spend more time on a website, which will result in higher conversion rates and trust-building between customers and businesses. A page redirect is very frustrating, especially whenever a user wants to subscribe to a service, whether making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. A responsive web design prevents page redirects at all costs.
8. Decrease in bounce rates
The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only a single page is referred to as the bounce rate. A responsive website enables visitors to stick for a longer duration because a responsive web design provides a much better user experience. The user, as they stay longer will be enticed to click and explore different areas of a responsive website.
9. No redundancy
Redundancy of web content should be avoided for a mobile-friendly website, which is made possible by using a responsive design strategy. Duplicate content is usually created if a website has two versions. The search engines will not be able to tell which content is relevant hence both versions of the website may have lower search engine rankings. Two different SEO strategies and campaigns are required for both versions of the website to rank well in search engine results, which would cost more time and money. Designing a responsive website, on the other hand, will save a lot of time and money for the developer.
Conclusion
A responsive web design can also increase the number of times your website’s content is shared on social media. A responsive website, including all responsive social media share buttons, helps the visitors to share embedded links, even on smaller screens. With the rise in consumption of mobile devices the percentage of shoppers using their smartphones to shop online regularly has increased significantly. Online shopping is more convenient than driving to the store and making a purchase. Users are psychologically impatient and don’t like to wait too much when convenience is in question.
Increased social media share results in more website traffic and conversion rates, which helps brand business to reach global audiences. A more adaptive web design significantly improves a website’s SEO, conversion rate, and user engagement rate altogether. Furthermore, an increased search demand and engagement of the website will be noticed by search engines, which increases the growth opportunities of businesses.
To build a website that’s more responsive you need to debug it across a scenarios and screen sizes. It is recommended you use a tool that can help you build, test and debug mobile websites. The LT Browser is one such tool for responsive website designing. It provides mobile view debugging on over 50 screen sizes, tests the performance and functionality of your mobile website, create your own custom device resolution, and simultaneously view websites across different resolutions on a single screen.
LT Browser has inbuilt DevTools tools for mobile website testing that helps improve website performance with lighthouse reports, and offer single click bug-reporting. It is one tool that offers complete solutions around designing a responsive website.
