Introducing… Responsive Web Design

The way in which we interact with online content has changed dramatically. In a world of multi-screeners, it’s important that businesses cater to a new, tech-savvy audience.

Google expert Philip Shearer recently revealed that “57% of people wouldn’t recommend a business if the mobile site hadn’t been optimised” and “40% have turned to a competitor site in the past because of a bad mobile site.” These stats highlight why mobile optimisation is integral to every marketing plan.  

Through responsive web design you can guarantee maximum comfort and ease of accessibility to your site, from smartphone to laptop to TV.  With just one HTML platform, Google can decipher a single CSS media query; determining which device is accessing your site and adapting the screen accordingly.  

By tailoring the display to suit each individual screen, you’ve a greater chance of maintaining user interest and increasing sales. 

Create Content and Structure 

If you’re starting from scratch, ensure that your website isn’t design-centric.  Customers head to your site primarily for its content, not the style.  Maximise and prioritise your copy by using the ‘Information Architecture’ planning process, detailing the layout of your narrow and wide viewports.  From here, you can then structure your site. 

It’s important that you dedicate enough time to producing excellent copy, or your design efforts will be wasted. Aim to enhance every customer journey with rich, relevant content, including images and video. Google’s Your First Multi-device Site offers more information on how to structure your content successfully. 

Making Your Site Responsive 

Now you can make your site structure responsive. We suggest starting small with Mobile First  web development.  Google Developers agree that by starting with a narrow viewport (like that of a mobile phone) you can easily scale out from this initial design.

Remember: Your page always needs to start with a viewport meta tag. This tells the browser how it should look and to what scale. 

By widening the viewport, you can adjust the layout to suit your preferences. Once you’ve decided on a display that looks and reads well; style and shape your content by placing breakpoints. This way, you can ensure that the content fits every screen size. 

Quick Wins

The benefits to using responsive web design are extensive. From personal experience, you’ll agree there’s nothing more frustrating than struggling to view and access online content. Businesses need to value context as well as great copy, and cater to a mobile generation. 

A web design revamp…

• Shows brand consistency: Poor design management can deter valuable customers from using your brand. Make the customer journey a priority across all platforms and check that the amazing quality of your website is accessible via all screen sizes. 

• Saves time and money: By using responsive design, you don’t need to dedicate costs to creating and managing a separate, stand-alone mobile site.  You’ve just one site to focus on, freeing time to experiment with new content and design ideas. 

• Increases engagement: Customers are less inclined to have an interest in your product if they need to pan or zoom to see your content. The convenience and ease of responsive web design is certain to increase engagement levels; driving more traffic to your site and increasing conversion rates. 

• Improves visibility: Working hand in hand with the previous point, responsive design can improve SEO rankings. Implementing a single set of hypertext links not only saves time, but it also avoids the use of duplicate content across different platforms. 

If you’re interested in improving your customer experience or can’t quite get to grips with responsive web design, get in touch at www.livelinknewmedia.com/contact-us. Our team of experts are ready to help you with any enquiries.