5 Reasons Why Responsive Design Matters

Design is an important element in any marketing strategy. After all, an attractive ad engages users far better than simple text.

In the case of online marketing, design is equally about function and appearance. That’s part of the reason why responsive design has become such a hot topic for so many websites.

Incorporating responsive design on your site means that your site will display properly on any device someone uses to look at it, including desktop computers, mobile phones, even smartwatches.

The concept took off as consumers started using mobile devices more frequently. Since marketers couldn’t know for sure which devices their customers were using, they had to incorporate responsive design to ensure users get a great experience on their site every time, no matter what device they use.

If you’re on the fence about using responsive design for your site, here are a few reasons you should consider it.

1. All screens are not alike

Your customers are using desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones to access your website.

The screens are different sizes, and the browsers operate differently. If you were to design your site for every single way someone could use it, you’d make so many adjustments that you’d never have time to implement a marketing plan.

Responsive design allows you to design your site once to ensure an attractive layout and good user experience every time someone visits — even if they’re using different devices.

2. It’s affordable

Some businesses are still designing two websites — one for desktops and another for mobile devices.

That means every cost associated with design, development, testing, SEO, and maintenance has to be paid twice, which eats away at the return on investment.

With responsive design, you only perform each of these tasks once, and more importantly, your business only pays for them once.

3. It makes sites more searchable

A site that lives on two platforms requires two different URLs and HTML codes. This makes them harder to crawl, which makes them harder to find in web searches.

Meanwhile, because content isn’t formatted for multiple devices, something shared from one device may not be readable on another.

Since you’re only creating one URL on a responsive design platform, Google and other search engines will have an easier time crawling it, which helps it rank higher in searches on desktop and mobile devices at the same time.

4. It’s fast

At some point, you’ll want to change to your site. It could be a typical site update to make room for new content, or it could be a complete overhaul.

Either way, responsive design allows you to make these changes only once so you can be sure the updated content is accessible from every device.

5. Conversion rates are higher

Multiple sites for the same organization can lead to inconsistencies, which can result in a bad user experience.

Responsive design does just the opposite. When a site works properly on every device, it leads to higher functionality, faster load times, and more usable websites.

The result is more user time on the site, more site traffic, and — according to a study from eConsultancy — a 400 percent increase in conversions.

In other words, responsive design doesn’t just make your team more efficient — it makes your business more profitable.

Find the agency to implement responsive design for your site

As the range of devices expands, designers face the increasingly difficult task of ensuring a consistent user experience on all of them. Responsive design makes this possible. If your site isn’t employing responsive design, start incorporating it today or find an experienced responsive design team to provide it for you.

Check out our list of the best responsive design companies to find a partner agency!