There are so many terms for websites/pages and how they interact with technology. Typical mobile devices include: cell phones, tablets, netbooks, etc… and that is the main principle behind the term “Responsive Web Design.” For the sake of clarity, we are going to refer to all sites that adjust based on the device accessing them as “Responsive”. The method you choose to build your site with is up to you; this is more focused on why you would want your site to be considered responsive more than how you choose to make it that way.

How Will Having A Responsive Website Help My Business Thrive?

Without question, your website is the absolute first thing the majority of your customers will see before they even enter your physical store, assuming that you have one. You and your company has spent a lot of time and money creating and maintaining a website which embodies the values of your business. It has presented information cleanly, is easily navigated, and has highlighted the most important features of your company. As a result, you want these factors to be evident online no matter how your clients choose to access your site. You want a site that appears to look just as good on a tablet or smart phone as it does your desktop. Overall, your website needs to be easy to use and provide all the information that is important on-the-go. Instinctively, we as a society, typically don’t stop for anything anymore and a responsive website allows customers to connect directly with your business without having to be in front of their computer.

From a marketing perspective, a RWP can enhance the effectiveness of your marketing campaign by allowing potential customers to instantly connect with you. There is no time delay or attempting to remember to “seeing it when I get home.” Overall, your customers can see your advertisement and immediately look at your website to research more about your product(s). Today’s marketing options often utilizes mobile devices to make advertisements more effective, so a RWD broadens your marketing options on so many levels.

If you are not currently using a RWD, you’re running the risk of your site not displaying properly and losing a lot of customers. Menus, alignments, and/or images could be rendered poorly or proportioned incorrectly and as a result, your client may have to scroll around to find content, or it may be so scrambled it’s illegible and aggravating to your (potential) clients. By having a RWD, you can rest assured that all your page’s content will be laid out clearly and the most pertinent information can be featured clearly without hassle.

A RWD layout for your website also assists in maintaining your company’s brand recognition. By making your site responsive, you will be able to ensure that your site looks the same whenever or wherever it is accessed. Every time. All the time. This is especially applicable if you choose to have an adaptive layout as that will give you more control over the specific placement of banners, images, and text.

As technology advances day-to-day, more and more options become available for handheld devices to the general public. For example, the iPhone alone has gone through four different screen sizes and six different screen resolutions since its initial release in June of 2007. Having a responsive website not only allows your customers to see your site at its best on-the-go as a representation of your business, but it also means there is much less of a need to continually redevelop new layouts to keep up with the ever changing technology of all mobile devices.

How Do I Make My Site Responsive?

Making your site responsive really depends on how your site is, or how it was initially built. For example, if you are using a CMS platform like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal, you are able to find a wide variety of themes that are already specifically designed to be responsive. If creating with any of these platforms, be sure to check that your custom CSS which may dictate the layout of your site before making it responsive to mobile devices.

If your theme isn not already responsive, you can make it responsive in systems like Joomla through custom coding or modules like Bootstrap.

If your site is custom built, you need to contact your web-developer to inquire what options they may have available to make your site responsive to mobile devices. If you haven not coded your site already, but know you know you are going to be working with a developer, make sure you ask them if they include RWD with their services.

Responsive site layouts introduce a lot of positive possibilities to your site and your business. Not only does it allow one to ensure the online representation of their business is as neat and tidy as your storefront, it will allow you to connect with more and possibly a new demographics of potential customers.

Three Key Aspects to RWD and Your Personal Business Page

People are on-the-go 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a result, responsive web design allows the busy professional to gain access your website during the day and the wide-awake-frantic college student access to your site at 2:00 am. No scrolling or resizing is needed for any consumer to access your website from their favorite device. None.
The advantages of having a single site that conforms to the needs of all types of devices is significant when compared to having two separate websites. One website costs less than two and the savings can be ample. Sites designed specifically for mobile device traffic don not always offer the advanced navigational techniques found in traditional websites and they also require the user to maintain two separate web addresses/URLs for your site. This is very inconvenient for most people and can cause them to check out the competition’s website instead of yours. RWD improves SEO efforts by having all of your site’s visitors directed to a single site no matter what they prefer to use as a device to surf the world wide web.
Responsive web design sites run smooth, meaning the content moves freely across all screen resolutions and all devices. While at the same time, the grids and the images are smooth.

As the number of people using mobile devices to access the Internet grows, your consumer base can grow with it through RWD. Businesses failing to grasp the significance of mobile device use on the Internet risk a reduction of visitors to their website. If you haven’t made the switch to RWD, don’t let your competition get ahead of you. Talk to your web designer, and make the transition to responsive web design.