Responsive design approaches web design from the point of view of the user’s screen size and orientation, making use of flexible layouts and fluid image and content elements to adapt the display and make it more user-friendly, while maintaining the integrity of the content.

Now, while the majority of online traffic comes from mobile users — in 2022, the number of smartphone users in the world rose to 6.648 billion, which is around 84% of the world’s population owning a smartphone – the desktop is a close second, and therefore it is imperative that the website helps customers get the best of both worlds.

But really, how is responsive design going to help you? 

Address a far wider audience

Today, mobile internet traffic accounts for almost 55% of the total web traffic, while in mobile-first markets such as Asia and Africa, mobile connections account for an even larger share of webpage views. What’s more, on average around the world, 30.6% of internet users bought something online each week via a mobile phone.

Building a responsive website means addressing this immense audience more effectively than if you were to offer only a desktop-friendly site that renders poorly on mobile.

Deliver an enhanced customer experience

A responsive website is designed to adjust to the screen, which would mean that your website is created to look fantastic whether the user is viewing it on a mobile phone, tablet, or desktop. Nothing is more frustrating for a viewer than having to scroll horizontally to view hidden content or having to pinch a page to zoom in. Responsive layouts built to be fluid help to address these issues.

More efficient to develop and maintain

In earlier years, to offer a mobile friendly websites, companies would develop an entirely separate mobile site that would be hosted on a separate sub-domain or domain from the desktop site. This meant that both development and updation needed to be carried out separately for the desktop and mobile sites. 

The use of responsive design does away with this inefficiency – more efficient coding reduces the costs involved in website development and maintenance. Responsive websites are also more search-engine friendly as the domain remains the same for all traffic, helping it build greater authority.

Faster performance and modern code

Responsive websites load much faster too as they work effectively on different devices. Responsive websites also tend to load much faster than a standard mobile version. According to a 2019 study by Portent, the highest e-commerce conversion rates occur on pages with load times between 0-2 seconds. With each additional second of load time, website conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42%, the study says.

Work with the right tech partner to ensure they are developing a responsive web app for your next project. A fast mobile-friendly is a prerequisite to growing and retaining your customer base. CloudNow can assist you in creating a responsive digital face for your business. Give us a call to explore more.