Responsive Web Design: Why Is It Important?

More than 50% of global website traffic today is from Mobile devices. This makes responsive web design essential to reach mobile users.

In 2020, there were 6.95 billion mobile users worldwide. This was projected to increase to 7.1 billion by 2021. (statista.com)

As mobile continues to grow, a mobile-friendly website with responsive web design is required for internet marketing. Responsive web design helps a business to reach more customers, generate more leads and conversions and remain competitive.

What is Responsive Web Design?

Responsive web design is a method of web design which uses a flexible layout so that the website adapts to different screen sizes. The text, images, forms and all website content will resize to fit the size of the browsing device. This makes the website easy to read and performs well on devices of all sizes from mobile devices to tablets to computers.

In responsive web design, the server sends the same HTML code to all devices and CSS styling is used to show the website correctly on devices of different sizes. There is no need to have multiple websites.

Why is Responsive Web Design Important?

Customers today can access your website from a range of devices. They can use their desktops, laptops, tablets or smartphones to browse the web for new products and services. A majority of online searches are made on mobile devices.

A responsive website is important for several reasons:

1. Responsive Web Design saves time and money since you need a single website

  • With Responsive web design, you need to have only one website. You do not need to have a separate desktop site and a separate mobile site. The single responsive website will scale to perform well on devices of all sizes from smartphones to desktops.
  • Having a single website saves development time and money. You do not need to have multiple websites developed for different devices.
  • It is easier to maintain, update and manage a single website with new content.

2. Responsive Web Design Improves SEO rankings

  • Google recommends Responsive web design, because it is easier to share a link to content with a single URL for all devices.
  • In April 2015, Google began to use mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor. Mobile friendly websites receive higher search rankings and appear higher on Google search engine listings.
  • In March 2021, Google rolled out their Mobile-first search index to all websites. With Mobile-first indexing, Google’s systems will crawl, index and rank the Mobile version of a website to add to their search index. The mobile version of a website will be considered the primary version of the website for SEO rankings.
  • In May 2021, Google’s Core Web Vitals is becoming a ranking signal. Core web vitals measures user experience including page speed, responsiveness and visual stability. Core Web vitals will combine with page experience signals like mobile-friendliness and HTTPS security.
  • Responsive web design reduces page load time, because no redirects are needed. Page load time is a search ranking factor.

3. Responsive Web Design provides a better customer experience

  • Older websites were designed to be viewed on desktops only and will not scale to fit smartphones. If customers cannot read your website and they have to scroll sideways or pinch and zoom to read the text, they will get frustrated and click away to a competing website.
  • Responsive web design or mobile friendly web design is used to provide a positive user experience for all users, regardless of the device they are using to browse your site. A responsive website will scale in size to perform well on all devices.

4. A Responsive Website increases Leads and Conversions

  • A responsive website ensures that your business information is available to customers on all devices. Customers can easily use your website from anywhere whether they are at home on a desktop or on a flight browsing their smartphones.
  • Customers can contact you from any device to request more information or set up an appointment. This gives you more opportunities to market your business, sell to more customers and increase business leads and sales.
  • Since a responsive website is easy to use and read, the bounce rate will be decreased and engagement time is increased as customers find it easy to use your website for longer periods of time.

Example of Responsive Web Design

Our website at goldmangodesign.com is an example of responsive web design. The same website content adapts to fit the screen size as you go from a laptop computer to a mobile device. As shown in the figure below.

Responsive web design, Gold Mango Design, Plano, TX

How Can I Get a Responsive Website For My Business?

A web developer can help you with getting a responsive website developed for your business. Gold Mango Design is a responsive web design agency, and we can help your business with developing a responsive website.

Conclusion

Mobile continues to grow and smartphones are used for more than 50% of online searches.

Your website must be responsive and mobile-friendly to be effective in marketing your products and services on devices of all sizes. Your website should adapt to look good and be easy to read on devices of any size that your customer may use.

A responsive website is effective in marketing your products on devices of all sizes. Having a website with responsive web design is essential to a successful digital marketing strategy today.

First Published: September 25, 2015. Updated: March 31, 2021.

References

• Google, Responsive Web Design
• Statista, Forecast number of mobile users worldwide from 2020 to 2024.

Related Articles on Web Design

• 5 Reasons Why A Responsive Website Is Essential To Your Internet Marketing Strategy by Gold Mango Design
• What Is a Digital Marketing Strategy? Plus 8 Popular Digital Marketing Methods by Gold Mango Design
• Gold Mango Design, Prepare for Google’s Mobile-First Indexing Change: Website and SEO Impacts
• 7 Reasons Why Mobile-friendly Websites are Essential to Online Marketing
• 9 Essentials to Optimize Your Small Business Website

Need Help with Digital Marketing?

Gold Mango Design LLC. helps businesses build a strong online brand and increase leads & conversions with digital marketing solutions. Our digital marketing services include Google Ads PPC (Pay per Click) Marketing & Management, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Local SEO, Mobile-Friendly responsive Web Design & Web Development, Marketing Analytics, Digital Marketing consulting and more. We are located in Plano, TX right outside Dallas and serve customers in the USA. Contact us at https://goldmangodesign.com