Why Is Responsive Web Design Important?

Suppose you have never coded in your life. In that case, it can be easy to overlook the wonders of responsive web design (RWD) when visiting a website. To better understand the purpose of responsive web design, it’s essential to know the definition is a way to code your website in CSS to adapt its formatting based on the device the person is using. Opening a website on a laptop, your phone, or a tablet determines the website’s layout. Increasingly, more businesses are considering their customer’s experience on their websites and putting efforts into making a responsively designed website. Essentially, companies want to ensure their website is attractive and can perform well on both a computer and a mobile device. 

Why are these businesses switching their focus to responsive web design, you may ask? Well, according to GoodFirms, 73% of web designers believe that people leave a website because of non-responsive web design. Meeting consumers’ expectations for a website’s responsiveness is essential to keeping your audience intrigued by your products.

When consumers have an enjoyable experience on the brand’s website and can easily navigate your site, they are more likely to purchase products from your site. It can be frustrating for a customer when they are having trouble navigating your website, and the pages they need to find are inaccessible. Or, they are viewing your website on a smartphone and need to zoom in to read the site. This frustration can lead to a decline in sales and makes your brand less reputable. Ensuring your website is designed responsively increases the chances of finishing a sale and creates brand loyalty.

mobile web design

Focus on the Consumer

When a brand’s website focuses on how the customer can receive the most direct and painless navigation experience, consumers feel your brand values them as a person. The customer feels more valued when a brand’s responsive website ensures that information on the opening page can be easily read. RWD includes adding easily readable fonts and providing easily navigable web pages through a menu at the top. Responsive websites can also lead to an increase in sales, as well as make your brand seem more reputable and up-to-date. 

Ensuring that your business has a responsive website design is essential to grow revenue and assuring that your customers return to your site. After creating your responsive website, it is also vital to ensure it is current with updates and information is being updated. Keeping your website as current as possible will ensure that users have the best experience possible. Eventually, positive experiences lead to word-of-mouth and organic advertising if people feel passionate about your responsive website. 

What Does RWD Mean?

To understand the purpose of responsive web design, knowing what RWD means for the consumer is essential. 

Aesthetics

One element, possibly the most important, is the visual appeal of your website. Higher chances of engagement are possible with meaningful and aesthetic visual elements because of increased appeal. Photos, contrasting colors, relative videos, infographics, and appealing typography can make your website more attractive.

Multiple Devices

Another essential element of responsive web design is ensuring that components on your website are actively configuring to different types of technology. Think of your phone screen as having limitations of a vertical rectangle and your laptop’s limitations of a horizontal rectangle. Your website must reconstruct its layout to match the consumer’s device. In responsive web design, web designers include fluid grids in their CSS code, which will automatically reformat your website’s layout. The risk of not containing this element is not having a functional website for mobile devices. This functionality could be the make or break point with your customer.

purpose of responsive web design

Color Scheme

Another important aesthetic choice for colors is including your brand’s color scheme within the website’s design. The website will become even more effective if the web designer makes sure the colors throughout the website include enough contrast to be easily read. Also, making the website inclusive to colorblind people will make the site even more responsive. Displaying images or videos above relevant text can also make a consumer’s experience with the website more enjoyable. These images can give some visual aid when browsing a site and break up large paragraphs of text. Some websites become an eye sore after reading for too long, so ensuring the user can have a break from reading is essential to holding their attention. 

Menu

Creating a straightforward menu at the top of the website with one to two-word labels will ensure that your customer can easily find information. The menu includes making different product categories tabs and a “contact us” page. A straightforward menu at the top of the page will ensure that customers will have an enjoyable browsing experience. Another critical tool to include at the top of the page is a search function. This tool will allow users to find the information they are looking for effortlessly. Lastly, spacing out elements such as text and hyperlinks should give the user enough room to navigate through different pages without accidentally clicking on something. Responsive web design will ensure that your customers have a valuable experience while scrolling through your website. 

What Is Mobile Web Design?

Mobile-first web design ensures that designing for smaller screens is treated with equal importance as the desktop version. Think about scrolling through a website on your phone versus on your desktop. Most likely, you are using your thumb to scroll on one and a mouse to scroll on the other. Mobile web designers consider this idea when designing their sites because scrolling by touch results in different consumer behaviors when browsing these sites. Recent research shows that 70% of smartphone users who bought a product in-store conducted previous research about that product on their phones. Not having as much screen surface like a desktop impacts the limitations of designing a website for a smartphone. Less screen surface results in a design that focuses on information being easily accessible and aesthetically pleasing. 

An effective mobile design contains vertical spacing, larger buttons, and relatively larger text. Web designers begin the mobile web creation process by focusing on the website’s structure, then concentrate on more specific design details.

rwd meaning

Easy to Navigate 

Users want a mobile website design that will be easy for them to scroll through. It should also have all the information they need in an easily accessible place. The information is formatted on top of each other, with less room in between, so the user can scroll down to read data. Websites made for a desktop experience will space out information and ensure other pages are easily accessible. CEO of mobile marketing company Localytics, Raj Aggarwal, states, “the rich and interactive experiences we have come to expect on mobile apps have created new standards and expectations for all digital media including the web…The result is websites are evolving to become more app-like in their rich functionality.” More consumers expect mobile websites to function similarly to an app, so more businesses hire skilled web designers to ensure their website performs well on smartphone browsers. 

Size of Text

Another key element to mobile web design is ensuring that the buttons and text on your page are large enough. Users should not have to zoom in to use them. Users will find it inconvenient to zoom into a website page, so ensuring your site layout is large enough is essential. A critical button to include in the top right or left-hand corner is an icon of three lines indicating a menu bar. When pressed, this menu should open up to the full screen on the mobile browser and contain a vertical list of different pages throughout the site. The names of each page should be concise so consumers can easily find the information. Including terms such as various product categories, an FAQ tab, and a contact us page menu is essential. Making it accessible to get in touch with your business should be one of your website’s top priorities. 

responsive web design

Icons 

Placing icons such as a phone, piece of mail, or different social media logos at the bottom of the page indicates the user can click on the icon. Clicking on a social media icon will take the user directly to the brand’s different social media accounts. If the user clicks on the phone or mail, it will take them directly to calling your company or creating an email addressing the business. This feature makes it very easy for customers to get in touch with the brand. They know where to ask questions if they have them and how to follow them on social media platforms.

Suppose you are curious whether or not your business’s website is mobile-friendly. In that case, a simple test from Google will allow you to insert a URL and see if the site works well on a smartphone. Making sure your website is functional on mobile devices will ensure that customers purchasing from their phones have a valuable experience. 

FAQ:

  • What is responsive web design?
  • What does RWD stand for?
  • Why do websites use responsive design?
  • Why is mobile website design effective?
  • Is responsive web design important?

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