The Critical Things You Need to Know About Responsive Websites

The definition of a responsive website can get really technical, but the concept is simple. It is a site that can resize and reshape itself depending on the size of the screen or device a visitor is using. When your site is non-responsive, you are essentially trying to take a billboard and cram it in an envelope.

Responsive Websites Are a Business Advantage

Having a responsive website isn’t about chasing the latest fad or putting a shiny bell or whistle on your website. The new expectation for web visitors is an online user experience that is smooth and easy to navigate.  A responsive website is about creating the best possible experience for your visitors and, by extension, your customers, clients or consumers.

Why is this all important? How people access the Internet has massively shifted. Think about this: Do you use a smartphone, laptop, desktop or tablet during the day? Do you use more than one of those devices; maybe all of them? If you use that many connected devices during a single day, so are your website’s visitors. If you ran across a non-responsive website, you will likely keep searching until you find one that is responsive. That means your visitors are seeking out competitors rather than learning more about you, which ultimately translates into losing business.

So the theory surrounding why a responsive website is absolutely critical is sound, but there are also hard data points and facts from extensive research that should heavily underscore how important a responsive website is.

If the question you are asking now is, “If responsive sites are so great, why doesn’t everyone already have one?” The biggest hurdle for many is that going the responsive website route means you’ll have to rethink some parts of your site, which depending on your capabilities in-house, might be outside of some comfort zones. If you work with someone experienced in creating responsive websites, you’ll likely be surprised at the value they can provide and how quickly they are able to turn a site into a responsive one.

Considerations for a Responsive Website Project

If you haven’t given much thought to a responsive website until now, here are some points to consider before taking the plunge:

• Do I know what my website looks like on a range of devices like desktops, laptops, smartphones and/or tablets already?
• What are my competitor’s doing with their websites? Do I need to catch up or will I have a big advantage being an early adopter in my area of business?
• Do I have the resources to allocate to creating a responsive website?
• Once the project is complete, who will be trained on how to maintain the site?

Overall, a responsively designed website will save you time and money. This is because you’ll be maintaining a single site rather than multiple versions, and reconnecting with how your visitors are actually using, or not using, your site is something that needs to be assessed periodically anyway.

The biggest benefit of all is you’re allowing your site to be flexible with the rapidly changing landscape of how people access the Internet on-the-go, at home or any place in between.

Read More: Still looking for other ways to improve your website? Read 6 Basic Tips to Improving Your Website’s SEO