Responsive design for business websites.
Mobile device usage continues to grow therefore people are increasing using them to access websites. This means that it’s never been more important to make sure your website is mobile-friendly.
Responsive web design is an overall approach to building websites. It encompasses web specification standards and flexible design models. The philosophy behind it stems from the wish to make the web accessible to as many devices as possible.
Responsive design ensures that a website displays properly on desktops, mobile phones an tablets. This simple concept has generated many design tools that make creation easier for designers and people who want to do-it-themselves.We use WordPress for most of our site build projects and the first thing we tick off is to choose a theme that has responsiveness built-in.
Mobile responsiveness is now a ranking reason
Several months ago Google announced that the user-friendliness of sites on mobile devices will become a ranking factor. This is why this issue has recently become a focus of attention online.
I recommend reading Brenda Barron’s comprehensive article about responsive web design at digital.com.
WHAT IS RESPONSIVE DESIGN?
Web designers faced new challenges when smartphones began to dominate the quantity of online browsing. Staring with Apples first iPhone we saw a major burst of devices hit the market. Regular upgrades resulted in the need to design for a range of screen sizes and for all the popular we browsers.
In response to this problem, the open source community of software engineers and designers got together to create a set of standards to achieve better cross compatibility. Those standards helped shaped best industry practices, which include responsive design. Collectively, these methods and specifications are known as responsive web design.
The actual term “responsive web design” was coined by Ethan Marcotte on his blog, A List Apart, in 2010. He was more than just a PR spokesman for the movement, however; he also played a major role in developing the best practices for it.
Brenda’s article is targeted at people looking for technical insights so here’s a summary of 3 key points of her post:
- You don’t need to use Javascript in a responsive web design.
- Responsive web design consists of fluid grids, flexible media and media queries.
- Responsive design improves site accessibility.
How does your business website stack up?
After you’ve read Brenda’s excellent article have a think about how it relates to your business website. Hopefully your site doesn’t need attention but there’s a good chance there will be at least a couple of things to fix. We offer a free review of business websites with a report outlining the top things that need more focus. Get in touch with us now to order your review.
