It's no secret that the majority of internet users access the internet via mobile devices. What's more, 40% customers use these devices to conduct research on purchases, and more than half regularly buy via smartphones. What does this mean for companies? Among other things, it means that by taking proper care of their websites, they can gain a lot of customers. In this case, this 'nurturing' means ensuring that visitors to the site from mobile devices have the right conditions (the so-called great mobile website experience). Without this, companies will not be able to serve more than half(!) of their users, thus losing traffic and potential customers. So how do you ensure a positive experience for those browsing the site on smartphones or tablets? This is where a responsive website comes to the rescue.
What are responsive websites?
A responsive website is one that adapts to any device from which the visitor can view it, i.e. computer, smartphone, tablet. Responsive websites are also called mobile-friendly, because their functions, content and media are adapted to mobile devices.
Responsive website design is no longer just a suggestion. If a business owner cares about building brand awareness, diversifying the user experience and higher conversions - responsive design is a necessary investment. It is also worth noting that it saves valuable time - it is impossible to create a separate website for every potential device used by web users. Not to mention the technologies that may emerge in the future. A responsive website guarantees compatibility with all devices and their screens.
Why is a responsive website so important?
When considering the importance of a responsive website, it is best to imagine the situation we face when one is lacking. According to data published by Quoracreative, a company can lose up to 90% potential customers due to their poor experience when viewing the site on mobile devices! That's a really big loss - potential customers and with them potential revenue. So let's look at the basic three benefits of investing in a responsive website.
Firstly, responsive design retains site visitors for longer. If, when accessing the site from a mobile device, they notice that it is not adapted to their screen resolution and they have to work hard to get what they came for - they will give up. The rejection rate (bounce rate) for pages on smartphones reaches almost 40%. Mobile users expect speed and quality - this can be given to them by creating a responsive website.
Secondly, responsive design helps potential customers of your website. Are you aware that when performing indexing and ranking, Google uses a mobile version of your website? This is known as 'mobile-optimised indexing' and was included as a default for all new sites on 1 July 2019. What does this mean? The bot as a mobile client scans and then indexes sites. For this reason, Google penalises those who do not offer responsive design. Indexing mobile-first has a real impact on rankings and may cause your pages to drop in the SERPs in favour of those that are mobile-friendly. The bottom line is that if your audience is browsing the internet on smartphones (and according to all the statistics, they are), and you have not taken care with responsive design, they may not come across your site at all.
Finally, thirdly, a responsive website, builds a positive company image and trust in the customer relationship. According to Quoracreative, as many as 57% consumers would not recommend a company whose website displays poorly on mobile devices. What's more, more than half of people who shop online equate the presence of a business online with a business in real life. Therefore, if they are disappointed with a business by visiting it online, that will also be their experience in general.
Responsive web design
It is possible to create a responsive website yourself using CSS i HTML. However, this can be compared to using a rural, bumpy road while a motorway runs alongside. In this case, the motorway is the CMS (Content Management Systems - content management systems) and website builders.
CMSs are systems that allow you to build a website without knowing how to code - including without knowing how to code responsive websites. Wizards work on a similar principle, but ditch some of the features of CMSs in favour of a lower price and even simpler operation.
Among the most popular tools for creating responsive websites are: CMS Hub, WordPress, Squarespace or Wix. The first two are content management systems that offer numerous templates, including those optimised for mobile devices. Wix and Squarespace, on the other hand, are seamless wizards that allow you to preview your website on different resolutions.
Building a website? This is something you need to keep in mind!
With the help of an intuitive CMS or wizard, creating a responsive website seems really easy, even for those with no experience. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind in order to make your visitors want to stay on your site as long as possible. First and foremost - don't neglect the buttons. Call-to-actions (calls to action, e.g. download, learn more, buy) are necessary, but in some cases they do not display as they should on mobile devices.
Instead of removing the button, consider placing it in a so-called hamburger menu. This is a popular (especially in mobile views) form of navigation. When you press the icon of three horizontal dashes, a menu unfolds. This is a convenient solution when you are faced with limited display space. Don't forget that when using mobile devices, we use our fingers to navigate. Therefore, clickable elements should be at least 48 pixels high.
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