responsive web designAs life becomes more mobile, people rely on interacting through portable devices more than ever before. It is important for any successful business enterprise to ensure that their customers have a positive mobile experience when interacting with them. Without the effective interplay when using their mobile devices, an individual can find they are being alienated and out of touch, which could ring the death knell for an enterprising business.

This means that in order for your business to remain at the top of its game it is necessary to continuously update and redesign your online presence with mobile technology in mind. According to Jay Taylor of Search Engine Watch, “67 percent of users claim they are more likely to purchase from a mobile-friendly website, companies that rely on SEO are wise to begin making the transition to mobile-friendly websites, and responsive web design specifically.”

How your website appears on a large desktop computer screen will be very different when you view it on your iPhone or Tablet. When you are in the design phase of your site all of these possible issues must be carefully considered and addressed.

Advantages of a Responsive Web Design

Going responsive may require a great deal of work in the beginning stages but will provide you with some great advantages in return. Consider the fact that once the site is completed you will be able to deliver content to multiple devices at one time. This will open up a wider range of sales opportunities in the process.

You will also ensure that your user will have the same experience no matter where they access your information. This will instill confidence in your customers and build a level of trust in the reliability of your business.

It will also open the door to many more marketing opportunities than you may have ever thought of before. With your information available instantly to customers from all different types of platforms you will create a natural increase of sales opportunities that can increase your profits and sales no matter what the circumstances.

Achieving these kinds of gains requires detailed planning and implementation for every facet of your site. It is not enough to include engaging content anymore; you have to consider how that content will be viewed and the impact it will have on your customer before any building of the site has begun.

How to Become Responsive

Before you can begin the design phase of your new site, it is necessary that you fully understand how your potential visitor will need to access your content. Some designs may be beautiful and provide some awesome features but on others, it can take a long time to load therefore entirely missing the point of the mobile experience.

A careful evaluation of everything that can be delivered on your site from the smallest of images to the logo and text must be a priority. Consider how they will work together across a broad range of devices, screens, and Internet access points. This is a step that your business cannot afford to overlook as it lays the groundwork for how your business presence will be viewed across many different types of devices. According to Jason Michael of Creative Bloq, “It’s becoming increasingly important to understand that a website should not be specifically about either the desktop or the mobile device, but about building in such a way that its layout adapts to varying viewport sizes.”

Taking into consideration not only the many mobile devices already available today but also the new inventions we will soon see in the future, you quickly understand that your site must be able to adapt to many different platforms.

This requires extensive research in order to grasp not only what you expect to achieve out of your site but also what your customer expects his experience to be. Knowing the extent of the many devices and how they will deliver your content will be essential information you need to design the best possible experience you can.

You also need to consider how your site will respond to input on various devices. Different devices will often use a variety of sensory input mechanisms. Interaction with content on a device that is built for a mouse pointer could vary greatly from a touch device so you also have to analyze how your device will be navigated on the different tools a customer may use to gain access to your content.

What You Need to Know Before You Begin

When you consider the scope of developing a responsive website you may at first feel apprehensive but if you take careful steps in the planning stages of such a project you can find success at the end of the road. With responsive websites generating revenues into the billions of dollars it is clear that if you’re building any type of Internet interaction without considering the value of responsive web design you could be overlooking a major marketing opportunity and literally turning your back on some major profits.

Make sure that your efforts keep these essential facts in mind before you proceed. Decide if having a responsive website is necessary for your type of business and then determine if your site could be better suited by developing an app to assist your customers rather than a responsive design. You always want to make sure that your business has all of the necessary resources to implement the new designs and you really understand how your customer will be interacting with your site content. As pointed out by Carrie Cousins of Adobe Developer Connections, “Responsive techniques, while sometimes time-consuming in the planning phases, can help developers in the long run. With a responsive plan, there is no need for multiple websites and redirects to sites that are designed just for mobile or tablets. This can make updates simpler, because one update will address all devices.”

To date, businesses are learning how to adapt to all sorts of circumstances. As the world of mobile technology continues to grow at such a rapid and progressive rate, more and more businesses both small and large will have to realize that they will need to make changes at an ever-increasing rate in order to stay at the top of their game.

What about you?

Have you been debating on going responsive with your website, but unsure if the return on investment would be worth it?

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