What Is Responsive Web Design And Why Is It Important?

There are literally thousands of devices in the market from which people are browsing the Internet. I’m not talking only about Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows phone, laptop, and things like that. I’m talking about all the devices that run on Android. Think about Samsung Galaxy Note 3, LG G2, Google Nexus 5, Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, HTC One and so on and so forth. Think about all the devices running on Windows. HTC Windows 8X, HTC Windows 8S, Nokia Lumia 525, Samsung Focus Flash, etc.

There are an insanely huge number of devices out there. And people are using them to visit websites. Hence you should prepare your website accordingly. One way to solve the problem is create apps for your site. You can create an Android app or an Apple app or both. Though there are other app markets too but these two are the most popular
ones.

But as technology is advancing more and more mobile operating systems are arriving in the market. You can’t create an app for every different operating system that pops up out there. And here is where a responsive web design steps in. A responsive web design means a design which responds correctly to the resolution of the screen on which it is viewed. It will automatically readjust itself and spread itself to match the screen size of the device the user is using to view it.

This has advantages over an app because you don’t need to write the code separately for all the different operating systems. One solution will fit all. While creating the website you will also need quality images and so you may check out Depositphotos for that.

Besides, not everybody who uses a smartphone or a tablet uses apps to visit websites. Many of them simply browse the net through the mobile web browser. Therefore you need to have a responsive website.

According to the Pew Research Center, 60% of tablet users prefer reading news on the mobile web rather than an app. Additionally responsive website is good for SEO. Google has clearly said that responsive design “is Google’s recommended configuration”. Do I need to say more? Responsive design also helps in link exchanges. Think of it this way. Suppose I’m browsing the Internet on my mobile and then I find a story interesting and want to share it with my social media followers.

If the site is not using a responsive design and is using a mobile site then the link shared will be to the website’s mobile version. Hence anyone who clicks on that link on his desktop will be taken to the mobile version of the site. No one is going to like the look and feel of it on a desktop and hence he will hit the Back button, while cursing me during this time.

With a responsive site you don’t need to worry about any future technological innovations. Suppose tomorrow a new browser or a new OS arrives, and if you are using responsive, your site will automatically adapt to it.

Let me know what you think about responsive sites in the comments below.

Leave a Reply