If you keep track of the web design world you might have noticed responsive web design is one of the most active subjects of discussion. If you aren’t sure what this translates to let us explain this to you in brief. Responsive web design is a technique whereby websites are designed to react to the user’s environment or device. In simple terms, this means a user gets to browse through a comprehensively built website irrespective of the devices he or she uses to access the website.
Responsive websites have a fluid grid structure which in combination with media queries in your CSS, where the breakpoints are predefined, allows the creation of device sensitive layouts. Let us now take a look into the factors which have made responsive web design so important in today’s world.
It’s a Multi Device World
Gone are those days when desktop and laptops were solely used to browse through the Internet. These days smartphones and tablets are being used just as much to access your website, if not more. Responsive web design allows you to cater to all these customers at one gone without having to design and develop customized websites for different platforms. Even within these devices the screen size and resolution keeps changing and it is only with responsive web design that you can create a robust website which is compatible with all these devices.
Clients Are on the Go
Your clients are constantly on the move and it is during this time that they might browse through your website on their smartphones or tablets sipping a cup of coffee or taking a ride in the underground tube. Imagine the competitive advantage that your website would have over the rivals if you can offer a full scale site to these clients against a skimmed one, which most traditional mobile websites were. This can become your biggest branding factor.
Speed Up and Be Counted
Research has shown that an average Internet user spends no more than 8 seconds on a webpage. They hardly read the content on the first visit and rather scan through it. And with multiple sites open in different tabs you don’t have the luxury of time with your design. Responsive web design renders compatible version of images and graphics onto the browser, thus speeding up the rendering process. So when you are up against competition on multiple tabs you will be counted among the best.
It is Cost Effective and Future Ready
Imagine the overhead cost of developing multiple versions of the same website and the amount of server space you would require. Add to it the trouble of creating a new version of the website each time a new device is launched in the market. This might require a team of designers to constantly keep working on the website to keep it in sync with the changing trends in the market. With responsive web design you can sleep in peace as your website will not only meet your present day needs but also will be ready for the future.
PixelCrayons, a web development company, is the contributor of this post. The company specializes in ecommerce solutions, CMS solutions,
responsive web design implementation,
HTML5 Web Development and more.