The Importance of Responsive Web Design for Businesses

It’s no surprise that more website traffic is coming from mobile, with rising smartphone and tablet usage. Infact, mobile now accounts for 28% of all website traffic globally and that number is only set to rise this year.

If you have ignored previous warnings about responsive web design, then 2014 is the year to listen - or risk losing website traffic and therefore customers.

And it’s not just site visitors you should be worried about. Mobile phones and tablet computers are now used for nearly 6% of all retail sales in the UK, as Brits embrace shopping on the move, from the sofa or in bed.

About 80% of mobile sales come from tablet computers in the UK, but sales via smartphones are growing faster as retailers are adapting their websites to make it a better experience. Sales from smartphones nearly tripled between 2012 and 2013.

Responsive web design is simply using a design that adjusts to fit a desktop, tablet and smartphone browser depending on where the traffic is coming from. It can be an incredibly frustrating experience as a user when you visit a website that doesn’t have a responsive design. The page looks messy, you can’t find the information you want and the images and logos don’t load successfully.

Responsive web design is not just about squishing content down so that it fits on a different sized screen. It’s about transforming your website in order to tell the message effectively. It’s also about being selective, as what works well on your desktop might not look so great on a tablet, particularly if your website has extensive content or uses large images that take a long time to load. Remember that smartphones and tablets have much smaller screens, less memory and touch-screens.

Think about the user experience you wish to create. Will your visitors be clicking on buttons using their touchscreens? If so, make buttons which include calls-to-action larger and change their colours so they stand out; for example ‘Book Here’. Adding white space around buttons will help prevent users from clicking on other buttons accidentally.

Simplify your navigation so users can find what they want quickly and easily. Remove drop-down menus as these can be tricky to use with touch-screen. Make your phone numbers clickable so that people can call directly from your site.

We know all the tricks to ensure that your site makes the smooth transition into a responsive web
design. Our client Pimhill Barn is a great example, as you can see from these images. We simplified the navigation ensuring that the most important content was easily accessible for a user. We have also made sure the images render quickly on a smartphone and ensured that users can get in touch easily.

If you would like to know more about responsive web design, we offer expert consultation and design services. You can find our contact information on our contact page or just email studio@vibecreative.co.uk.