What is a responsive website? A responsive website is a website designed to appear across all screen sizes.
As early as 5 years ago there was no need to design websites to be seen on smaller screens as mobile internet devices. Now a website needs to be seen on all internet ready devices.
What makes it so important?
Smartphone and tablet users on the go are usually searching on-line for information to either visit a physical business premises, or information about a product or service. That potential customer lands on a site that is not mobile friendly, and after some frustrating moments of fingering the screen to make the text larger, that potential customer just lost interest in your business. This is why it is becoming more and more important to ensure your business does not lose out on web traffic.
Local Search of Responsive Websites
If you have a type of business, ensuring your website is highly ranked, visible on-line, and easily seen on mobile devices, with fast load times and easy to navigate menus, then you will have a high chance of being found on-line by mobile searches looking for your business in your locality. The responsive design needs also to take into account easy to find contact information, so they know where you are and a phone number to call if they need to ask for directions or availability of stock.
Being found on Google maps is another highly important task to ensure you comply with. This will also help your potential customers find your business easier.
Is it necessary to have a responsive website or an App?
The difference between a responsive website and an App, is sometimes, visually, not much different to the visitor. The main benefits of an App is that it can be seen offline, and for the size of the information.
An App which contains all your products is a great method of increasing customer experience. Customers could feel privileged that you have provided a free App, so customer experience will be increased. The load times can be fast (saving on memory download times and costs) and can be easily updated when using WiFi. Using an App for your customers, can also enable you to provide a lot more information on your business, or its products, and update fast with new products or services.
You can get websites that feel like an App but may not be accessible offline. Again, customer experience should dictate if this is necessary or not.
Responsive Websites – Summary
A responsive website is one that can be automatically seen on varied screen sizes, a MUST HAVE for any website that targets mobile devices, which is probably 99% of all web sites. A responsive website must be fast loading, simple to navigate and easy to find information and contact details. A responsive website that has a lot of information, with slow load times, will deter users from visiting your site. Not having a responsive design will also prove damaging to their experience too.
Is your business website responsive?