The use of mobile devices to surf the web is growing at a very fast pace, but most of the websites aren’t optimized for those mobile devices, but all most every users in the internet today, badly needs responsive websites for their mobile devices, there comes the importance of Responsive web design (RWD). RWD is not only meant for smartphones, but it is also an approach to design the website that makes web pages render well on a variety of mobile devices or screen sizes. Responsive web designs should respond to the user’s behavior and environment based on the device’s screen size, platform, and orientation. This would rule out the requirement for different designs for every gadget and reduce a lot of development time and effort.
1. More Traffic to Your Website
Nowadays more than half of the traffic to websites came from smartphones and other mobile devices. In the traditional practice most of the business owners create two versions of their website, one for desktop and one for mobile phone users. But with the ever-increasing viewership from various mobile devices leads to the idea of having Responsive web design for business websites. It would definitely help the business owners to gain more traffic because over 30% of searches from Google are performed from mobile devices. Responsive web designs offers much better user experience and user engagement. It is specially designed for various mobile device standards and optimal download speed, which means less waiting and more browsing.
2. More flexible and Cost effective
Responsive websites are more flexible and cost-effective than app development for the corresponding websites. App development requires the production of different apps for different platforms, for example, the app which is developed for android platforms is not compactable with iPhones. It requires submission to an app store from the developer end and users to download the app before it can be accessed. On the other hand, a responsive website is universal to all contemporary smartphones and other modern mobile browsers. Comparing with app development, responsive websites requires less maintenance time & cost, you only need to maintain one set of code technically, so any changes or new functionalities you offered to the desktop version are automatically available on other devices as well. Same with the case of bug fixing and corrections, you only need to fix it on the common pages and it will be reflected on other versions also.
3. Better user experience
It is your responsibility to provide your visitors with a positive experience and quality content . If a user arrives on your website, having to pinch and zoom to find information, there’s a good chance they won’t find what they are looking for. So that disappointment often causes visitors to prematurely bounce from your website and search your competitor’s websites. Google has stated that 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had issues while accessing and a massive 40% will instead visit other websites. So it is very crucial that your website must have customer friendly features along with website responsiveness. Your online business may lose customers if your website does not provide a smooth experience across all devices.
4. Responsive Website Design is good for SEO
Search engine optimization plays a big role in today’s online business world. Google prefers responsive website designs over non-responsive templates. Since April 2015, Google’s algorithm has been incorporating responsiveness of a website into its ranking factors. With the Google algorithm update, a responsive web design increases visibility on search engines. Responsive design improves the speed of your website, that is page load time will be very low, it is an added advantage in SEO. Google recognizes ‘time on page’ as a fundamental indicator of a site’s value for any given query. Responsive web design makes your website much easier for visitors to read and navigate. The result is an improved user experience and a greater time on site. This will reduce bounce rate and leads to good usability score. Good usability score helps in getting repeat visitors and increased conversions.
5. Increase conversions and more profit from ads
Responsive web designs are more likely to increase conversions and profit. Migrating 3 Adsense websites to responsive design resulted in 20-30% increase in Adsense earning compared to other website versions. Look into these examples,
a) Skinny ties, A family-run company that has been designing and producing neckties since 1971, Skinny Ties decided to reinvent the brand’s identity and build a platform that would be future-friendly. Keeping in mind the increasing penetration of mobile devices, the company opted for responsive design. The site launched in October 2012 and within a couple of weeks Skinny Ties experience a massive increase in sales and profit compared to the previous three months. Revenue from all devices went up to 42.4% and their bounce rate dropped to 23.2%.
b) Think Tank Photo reported a 188% increase in online sales due to their responsive web design. The number of sales on mobile devices had actually surpassed those of desktop website visitors.
c) The popular E-commerce store O’Neil Clothing racked up some impressive results after implementing responsive design. O’Neil monitored conversions, transactions, and revenue for 3 weeks prior to going responsive. Then, after deploying the responsive conditions to the already live site, they monitored the same metrics for another 3 weeks and the results are staggering.
So these examples shows that responsive design is far superior to the desktop version in getting conversions and profit. A responsive website increases traffic, engagement, contact – and eventually leads & conversions. Having your website optimized for multiple channels allows users from desktop, mobile phones, tablets and other devices to experience a similar journey on site, so your business maximizes profit from each potential users.
Also Read: 7 Proven Ways to Increase Website Traffic