Since being introduced just over 5 years ago, responsive web design has quickly become one of the most sought after and popular ways to design a website in any industry. That’s for good reason, too. The number of users accessing the Internet only through mobile devices has steadily increased since the inception of smartphones and tablets – and as you might’ve guessed – in March 2015 that number surpassed desktop-only usage.
This means there are more people accessing websites strictly through their mobile devices than there are people accessing websites wholly through desktops. Which brings me to my point – businesses that have developed their websites using responsive web design generate more leads than those who don’t. Period.
You might be thinking, “But how does responsive design generate more leads?” Read on and we’ll clear that right up for you.
Adapting to Your Customers’ Needs
I think we can all agree that trying to navigate a non-mobile-friendly website on a smartphone is the opposite of fun. It’s frustrating, aesthetically displeasing, the links are hard to see and borderline impossible to click or tap, the user path is very difficult to understand, and often, page load times are too long because the site is just too big to render quickly on a mobile device.
Website visitors won’t stick around to see if it gets better when they run into this type of experience. They will leave your website and seek to find better.
In fact, the mobile-friendliness of your website is so important that Google’s last update prioritized websites that are mobile-friendly over those that are not. This means your website will get pushed to the bottom of search results if it is not mobile-friendly or does not have a “mobile version”. Some people are even debating whether or not to go mobile-only with their main site in anticipation of desktop searches becoming obsolete in the coming years.
One solution to becoming more mobile-friendly is creating a “mobile version” (separate from the regular, desktop-only version) of your website. The thing about creating another site is that you have to design, build and develop that separate site in addition to all the work you’re doing for your main site.
Building a separate site takes time, money, content, images – you get the point. There are additional concerns like creating a second URL for your mobile site – which Google and Bing advocate against if you can help it as search engines might not be able to find that second URL to serve it up in results.
On the other hand, when you build and design your main website using responsive design, you’re meeting your customers where they are – you’re adapting your site to how they live their lives. Visitors can quickly and easily find what they need, no matter what device they’re using.
This means they’re much more likely to convert, tell others about you and return to your site again.
What is Responsive Web Design Really?
Simply put, responsive web design enables your website to adapt to the device the website visitor is using at the time they visit your site. This means that no matter where a website visitor is or what kind of computer or device they use to get to your site – as long as they are connected to the Internet, the website will render to look great, be easily navigated, and load relatively quickly.
By responding to the device a visitor is using, responsive web design enables visitors to interact with a website easily, with minimal need for resizing, panning or scrolling when they arrive. Responsive websites can even respond to a user’s movements – like turning your smartphone horizontally vs. vertically – and still render a user-friendly look and layout.
Not only does responsive design provide for optimal viewing and easy navigation on literally any platform (making for the best possible customer experience online), it is fast becoming a given for many websites and a popular best practice in the web industry at large.
Over the last few years, many mobile device users have become quite accustomed to their favorite websites using responsive design. I know people who won’t even visit a website on their mobile device unless it is mobile-friendly. The vast majority of users will abandon a website once they realize it is not mobile-friendly, and Google even points out exactly which websites are mobile-friendly when you search via their engine on a mobile device.
When Google rallies behind a movement, wise web designers and developers follow their lead.
This all goes to show that responsive web design isn’t just the latest trend. It’s here to stay. What’s more – responsive web design will save you time and money in the long run, it will improve your website’s search engine optimization, and it will result in a better experience for anyone who visits your site – which means you’ll generate more leads.
Just how much better do responsive websites look and function? Check out some of our clients’ responsive websites and see for yourself.