Desktop Vs Mobile? The comparison is very relevant, yet it all correlates together. Desktop computers are still used today particularly in most workplaces and among elder people, however, we’ve seen a change in how people browse the internet and live. We’ve seen toddlers and kids play games on iPads, people use their mobile phone for more than just calling people. It’s become the central figure of technology in the vast majority of people’s lives.
And it’s because of these factors that it’s critical that if you have a business or organization with a website, that you don’t just have a website that looks decent on a desktop computer. It’s even more important that your website is responsive. The term “responsive” used to describe website design means that your website and it’s pages render well on both the desktop and mobile views. Desktop refers to standard computers and laptops, while mobile refers to tablets and smartphones. I will be sharing 4 points on why you should have a responsive website.
1) A responsive website is easily adaptable to multiple screen sizes. Don’t you just hate it when you go to any older website (particularly one that’s a local government site), and you have to zoom in a lot just click menu options on it? Why the extra effort just to view a page? More than likely, it’s not going to leave you the best impression of the website. However, when a website is responsive, you don’t have to be zooming in and out just to see what you want to see. Rather the pages are very fluid, streamlined and consolidated to provide the user with a good experience. Examples of what a responsive site looks like are the “hamburger” style menu bar, stacked images and text.
2) A responsive website improves your SEO efforts. Ah, good ole SEO is popping up again. Many hear that term, only some know what it actually is or means. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which pertains to the website’s visibility on the internet with search engines like Google and Bing. Google especially responds well to a website’s responsiveness. In fact, it makes the website more likely to have a higher ranking for pages displayed on searches. An experience that caters greatly to the user on a responsive website increased the likelihood of “dwell time” which is the amount of time someone spends on a particular website, which then boosts the SEO score.
3) A responsive website cater’s to the largest portion of your audience. What is the largest portion of the web browsing audience? Mobile users. How many searches done today are from mobile phones? According to this article from bluecorona, over 70% of web traffic comes from mobile today and rising. The article also claims that consumers spend more than 5 hours a day on their smartphones. Nothing much more needs to be mentioned on this point. Responsive website = reaching your largest audience.
Pardon the cheesy humor but anyone getting hungry for a hamburger…menu?
4) A responsive website comes at a lower overall cost and maintenance. Did you say it can save money? Absolutely that’s what I said. Have a responsive website offers the benefit of a lower overall cost of maintenance because you’re essentially getting a 2 in 1 deal, as opposed to the upkeep of 2 different versions of just 1 website. Whatever extra costs there are with building a responsive website are paid upfront but then never again. Another additional benefit is that it takes less time to setup. These types of websites are done more easily than ever before in various web building platforms which I will discuss more in my next blog post.
All and all, with the advancements in technology, changing in consumer habits and easing of ability to build and keep this type of website in 2020, there really is no good reason why your website shouldn’t be responsive. We all want a good experience on the web. It’s not just another expense, it’s an investment that will reap a great return upon excellent execution.