The dictionary tells us that the word ”responsive” means “to react quickly and positively or to respond readily with interest or enthusiasm.” That is how your staff should react to the needs of your customers. Responsive should also describe how your website reacts or responds to customers’ mobile viewing needs. The number of people using mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) for Internet use has absolutely exploded in recent years and shows no signs of stopping. 65% of Internet users in America utilize mobile phones to access the web and 25% of Internet users exclusively use their smartphones.
I’ve learned about a company who saw their web sales from smartphones and tablets grow by 200% last year. They shared that 20% of all their shoppers are on mobile devices. They decided that they needed to do something to better serve mobile shoppers.
They could have built a mobile commerce web site and optimized a version of it for tablets, and possibly created a smartphone or tablet app, too. Instead, they worked with a web marketing company, using responsive web design techniques, to build a new e-commerce site that presents itself differently depending on the size of the screen of a device. All of the site content, features and functions are the same, but they display in a manner that best suits the dimensions of a screen, whether it is on a computer monitor, a tablet, a smartphone or even a television via a game console Internet connection.
Responsive web design is about building sites that deliver the best viewing experiences. It makes site reading and navigation easy due to minimal resizing, panning, and scrolling. Responsive designs function across a wide range of devices, from desktop computer monitors to mobile phones.
A great website’s response should be on par with the great experience provided at a store. Responsive web design is a logical way to provide that with a minimal amount of site development time.
A web marketing team designer will create wireframes (foundational design layouts) for desktop, tablet, smartphone and large-screen versions of a website and then program it.
From a design perspective, attention needs to be paid to the experience in all these different views. The cost of Responsive web design is a less expensive path when compared with creating separate web and mobile sites and mobile apps.
Responsive web design does not mean that one-size-fits-all. The different experiences on each device need to be considered when designing. A Responsive web design e-commerce site is more work from a design perspective as you will have several versions of your site to design and test. Even though the content is the same for one main site, the way it shows on each device is different.
‘The proof of the pudding is in the eating’ they say, and I’ve seen reports that share that the bounce rate on mobile (where a customer lands on one page and then leaves without viewing any others) decreases and time spent on sites increases with Responsive site designs! And those are two marketing objectives of any site.
Most business owners understand they need to be in mobile, as that will be the source of much future growth. Make sure your customers e-commerce experience is a Responsive one – one that reacts quickly and positively.
At Everbearing, we offer Responsive design builds for both traditional and e-commerce sites.
Feel free to share your ‘Responsive’ insight below or contact the Everbearing team today about your Responsive site.