Responsive website design is the strategic approach and consideration of the way the design works on mobile devices. Mobile devices are now more widely used than desktop computers for browsing the internet. Additionally, Google also measures ‘mobile-friendliness’ within it process of creating search engine ranking. As you might expect, we place a high level of importance on creating responsive websites.
Implementation of responsive website design
We place an emphasis on the look and feel on mobile devices during the design phase. In addition, we used a technology that allows a website design to respond to different screen sizes. However, this doesn’t mean that the technology does the entire job for us though. With smaller screen sizes such as mobile phones we need to take into account a number of elements. Not least the size of text and composition of images.
Optimise page load speed
The speed a website page loads plays an important role in the first impressions of a consumer. A large percentage of visitors won’t wait more than 2 seconds for a website page to load before moving on. Importantly, Google interpret page load speed as positive ranking factor. Therefore, having a quick loading, responsive website design, could actually attract new customers.
Keep it clean
An uncluttered, clean, website design is more important when dealing with mobile devices. We aim for clarity and simplification of processes. The most critical functions should be clearly visible and within reach of a finger or thumb. The most effective user experiences create a seamless intuitive interaction with the website’s functionality. The burger menu is a classic example of how responsive website design has created a simplified solution to navigation on mobile devices. So successful has this solution become that it is often employed on desktop designs to create a minimalist aesthetic.
Testing responsive website design
There are number of ways of testing responsive website design during the development phase. One way is to employ testing websites such as Browser Stack for instance. There are also development tools within web browsers such as Chrome or Safari. However, we believe there is no substitute for testing on real mobile devices. This is why we spend time testing on a number of mobile devices and in both orientations.
In conclusion, mobile devices have revolutionised how we consume internet content and has had a major impact on web design. The value search engines place on mobile friendliness only adds weight to the argument. Consequently, we focus on responsive website design as a key service and a route to deliver an optimal user experience. If you’d like to discuss how we can help you with your website design please get in touch.
