The Basics of Responsive Web Application Design
A responsive design allows a single website to adapt to different screen sizes. It eliminates the need to create and manage two separate versions of your site, and it’s just as easy to use on a smartphone as on a tablet or a PC.
Responsive websites have become a standard as they provide the end user comfort and have a strong say in your website’s SEO rankings. A responsive website adjusts to the screen size on which it is viewed. As a result, it presents an impression that it was tailor-made for any smartphone, tablet, or computer. This eliminates the need to scroll horizontally to uncover hidden content or double-tap or pinch to zoom in/out of the page while using a smartphone or other small-screen device.
Why is a responsive website preferable to a mobile version of the website?
Even though the flexible design has been demonstrated to be an efficient technique, many businesses still have two websites: their main site and a mobile version. On the other hand, choosing a dual-version option implies you’ll have to manage and update two unique websites. This will take approximately twice as much time and resources and will likely result in various complications and misunderstandings among users and search engines. Below are some major advantages that responsive development of websites provides.
- It takes less time.
- For search engines, we optimize a single website.
- It speeds up the loading process
- It works with a broad variety of devices.
- All pages are always available.
- We have a single code base to update.
More User Friendly
Responsive design makes websites more user-friendly by making it easier for customers to engage with, share, and link. Separate desktop and mobile versions complicate these processes and, as previously said, can cause misunderstanding.
This may drive users away, causing them to prefer competitors with easier-to-use websites.
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The Basics of Responsive Design
We must add some additional code to your existing website to make it responsive. Users on different devices see the same website version, with the content altered and rearranged for better viewing.
If you’re creating a new website and want it to be responsive, you should start with a mobile view of the website. This means you should create the original layouts to appear excellent on a tiny screen and then use the Meta viewport element, CSS media queries, and breakpoints to scale the design up when viewed on a larger screen.
WordPress users should be cautious because their theme is likely to be responsive. You can check this by using Google’s mobile-friendliness test or testing your website on different devices. You should update your theme if you discover it needs to be more responsive.
3 Types of Responsive Layouts
Regarding responsive web design, there are three main layout categories, each with pros and cons. They are elaborated on below.
1. Responsive or Adaptive Layout
Adaptive layout, also known as responsive layout, is composed of static blocks measured in absolute units. The absolute unit measures lengths like pixels, points, and so on. Adaptive design always shows fixed-length, which means that pixels will remain fixed regardless of whether the page is viewed on a laptop or a mobile device. The width of a pixel-based image does not vary with the width of the browser. Compared to the fluid layout, the adaptive layout is simpler to develop.
2. Fluid Layout
Fluid layouts, often known as liquid layouts, use relative units to fill the entire width of the screen. The term “fluid layout” refers to how long it is determined concerning other elements. The width of the base images adjusts to the width of the browser. The fluid layout is more complex to build than the adaptive layout. We can define size in percentages rather than pixels in this style. It is more versatile but takes longer to load than adaptive or responsive layouts.
3. Responsive Fluid Layout
The adaptive and fluid layouts are combined into a fluid responsive layout. It has a large number of media queries, often known as breakpoints. In this design, elements compress or stretch to fit the screen size, giving the user a unique experience. It is user-friendly since it adapts to the user’s preferences.
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How your users benefit from Responsive Design?
Users have a better mobile experience with responsive design, improving the overall User Experience (UX).
Better User Experience
Whether your website visitors are using a desktop, a smartphone, or a tablet, a responsive design has the potential to improve their user experience. Furthermore, responsive websites load significantly faster than a conventional mobile version if developed properly. According to a Google study based on various page-load tests, delays can substantially influence user happiness and even cause them to abandon the site and never return. Both familiar and unfamiliar pages yield the same results. As a result, a slow site can cost you new and existing clients. Optimizing your online property to make it seem better and load faster will make it more inviting to visitors and provide them with the greatest experience possible. People are more inclined to return to your site when they have a favorable impression of it.
Cost-Effective
As previously said, choosing a responsive website over a dual-version website means you have one code base to maintain and update. This will save you both time and money, which can be used better by adding additional features, fixing issues, and improving and streamlining the single version of your website.
Simplified SEO Campaigns
SEO is easier to execute and maintain with a responsive website because you have to design and monitor one campaign. With a separate mobile site, your SEO personnel would face a great challenge in optimizing the links for the desktop and mobile versions of the site. If you have a separate mobile site, you’ll need to set up two campaigns and devote twice as much time.
A responsive website will allow you to spend more time researching keywords and competitors and concentrate on boosting your ranking.
Flexibility and Future Scalability
Responsive design is the simplest and most accessible approach to accommodate the latest devices. Screen sizes and forms evolve throughout time, and no one can forecast how they will emerge in the future. You won’t have to worry about what’s coming next with a responsive website, and you won’t have to revamp your site for every new trendy gadget.
Responsive websites are similar to liquids. They can be scaled up or down to fit the screen size on which they are viewed.
More Visitors and Sales
A high-quality mobile-friendly website with a positive user experience will entice users to come back and give them additional reasons to continue using your site.
Furthermore, the popularity of online shopping is steadily increasing, with 54 percent of the global online population using mobile devices to do their shopping. If your website is tailored to fit their demands and provides a seamless mobile experience, they are more likely to make a purchase and return.
A flexible website will not only increase sales but it will also make your content more shareable, bringing in even more customers. Surveys show that each person spends an average of 145 minutes each day on social media platforms, most of which is spent on their mobile devices. With an active social media presence, social networks drive constant traffic to your pages from mobile devices. A slow-loading, outdated-looking website might harm your reputation and cause all visitors to doubt your trustworthiness.
Choose Payoda as your Web Application Designer
Our team at Payoda helps you build a responsive design to allow your website’s content to flow smoothly across all device types and sizes, making it look excellent on any device. We also relegate the need to maintain separate desktop and mobile versions of the website, saving you time and money. A modern-looking, mobile-friendly, and quick website is a must for expanding your business and attracting new clients.
Get a free consultation from our experts today to strengthen your web presence and demonstrates to your clients that you set high standards. Of course, having a well-designed and optimized website is just the start. You must still provide high-quality products and services and fill them with meaningful material to make them worthwhile. On the other hand, a website is your company’s digital face and making it user-friendly, accessible, and informative is essential.
Authored by: Sritharan Chellachamy
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