Website Responsive Design

Many small business owners and marketing managers come to us looking for a quick and easy way to move their website up the ranks in the Google organic search results and increase there likelihood of attracting customers through their website. Although there are a combination of tactics we recommend, one of the first and foremost things, is implementing a responsive design. Google and users alike, put HUGE value on having a mobile-friendly website design.

What is responsive design?

A responsive website responds to a changing screen size and adjusts its layout accordingly. This means that your website changes its design based on the screen size of the device it is being viewed on. One way to test if your site is responsive (or how well it is designed) is to adjust your window size by dragging the corner of your web browser. Does your site layout change to fit the new window size? Is your content still displayed accurately and easily? If not you could be losing valuable traffic, Google rank, and user interaction even if someone does come to your site.

Here is why responsive design is so important:

1. More users are viewing your website on a smart phone or tablet than on a standard computer. As of 2015, over half of website visitors throughout the internet do their browsing on non-desktop or laptop devices. This means that if your website does not have a responsive design, chances are you are losing the valuable users who do come to your site on a mobile device.
2. Google punishes your site if it does not have a responsive design. Although most changes to the Google algorithm are unknown and mysterious, it is well known that if your site does not have a responsive design, your page rank and quality score are highly affected. Google takes user experience very seriously, and if your site isn’t providing a good user experience across devices, be prepared to rank low on organic or sponsored search results.
3. Users won’t be able to get the information you want them to without a responsive site. Even if you acquire traffic to your site without responsive design, and the user stays on your site despite the poor user experience, there is a high chance that the user will miss the information you want them to see. By zooming and scrolling like crazy, your potential customers won’t be focused on what is in front of them, and you could miss your opportunity to capture them as a lead.
4. You can save money by only creating one responsive website. Some organizations actually have more than one website to accommodate different devices. “View mobile site” used to be common practice, however it can be difficult to update multiple sites to keep branding consistent, and it is costly to redesign multiple sites every few years. With a responsive site you only have to redesign it once, and information only needs to be updated once to be consistent throughout all devices.
5. Responsive design is optimized for devices that aren’t even out yet. It seems as if web design and development used to be reactive, with companies developing websites based on the newest devices, screen sizes, and technical requirements. Responsive designed sites get ahead of the ball however, as they take into account devices and technology no matter what its form.

Responsive web design is the new norm, and although it is popular, it takes an experienced web developer to make your site as beautiful on a five inch screen as a 27 inch screen. ProActive Web Solutions has designed and developed over 200 responsive website. Our expertise is not only in creating responsive designs, but making sure your customers see the appropriate information. We do this by focusing on user experience, content organization, and increasing the search presence of your site.

To see some of our responsive website, check out our Website Portfolio. We are always happy to discuss your needs, so please contact us with more questions.