There is nothing worse than opening up a website that isn’t suitable for your device or clicking on a page that is unresponsive. I think it is right up there with nails on a chalkboard and I cannot be the only one that gets frustrated by it. I instantly click off and make a note never to return to that website ever again, but what can you do to ensure your users don’t click off your site? Well, it is pretty simple, and users aren’t asking for a lot here. Just make sure your website is responsive to their devices.

With responsive web design, all content and pages are flexible across all screen resolutions and devices. Whether you’re viewing it from your smartphone, laptop, or tablet, it will be unified and easy to navigate despite the differing screen sizes. Responsive web design is exactly what you think. It means your user can read and navigate the site with minimum resizing and scrolling, and it is responsive to your users’ preferences and needs depending on the device they are using. Providing an optimal experience for the user viewing your content.

Responsive web design is imperative if you are using your website to promote yourself or your brand and business. As previously mentioned, responsive web design will improve the user experience, which will translate into a positive perception of your brand and business. If your customer can access your website easily on all platforms, they’re more likely to return to you for more business in the future, and it also means a higher conversion rate for your website. In a world where so much traffic comes from mobile devices, your website must accommodate users’ devices appropriately.

Over the past few years, the use of smartphones has grown increasingly. In 2014, ‘only 22% turned to their phone first to browse the internet. Only 2/3rds of people even owned a smartphone’ (Jones, J, 2019), imagine that! Since then, the adoption of 4G internet and other innovations has impacted the way people used mobile devices.

By late 2016, mobile web usage had overtaken desktop for the first time, demonstrating how many people browse on smartphones and tablets rather than on a laptop or desktop computer. This dramatic shift in user behaviour was due to the population using their mobile devices to carry out all sorts of activities, from shopping online, banking, and social media. ‘Ofcom reported at the time that 7 in 10 adults use a smartphone, with over-65s now more likely to use one too, as the public becomes ever more competent with the growing technology’ (Jones, J, 2019).

For these reasons alone, it is hugely important to take the time investing in responsive web design; your business needs a website that works well on a smartphone or other device screens due to the sheer amount of people who could be using your website through a smartphone or tablet.

Responsive web design, and mobile-first indexing, is now also important as a ranking factor. Responsive sites will generally load faster, which is likely to boost your ranking and decrease your bounce rate. Responsive web design can also make sharing easier, helping you grow an even bigger audience for your brand!

The fundamental purpose of a website is for it to work and function and not just for yourself and your users but for anyone else that may need to access your website. Website maintenance is also a much smoother process with a mobile-friendly website. Responsive web design means you only have 1 website to look after; it’s also quicker and less expensive than making a stand-alone mobile application in addition to your desktop website.

With mobile-friendly websites now being an industry standard, especially thanks to mobile-first indexing, take a minute to digest this blog post and ensure that your web design is suited for all devices.

Statistics that are cited can be found here.