10 Essential Benefits of Responsive Web Design – Responsive web design simply means building a website that can adjust to the size of the visitor’s viewport. The goal is to present content differently depending on device or screen size so that visitors have an optimal experience, no matter how they access a website. The main advantage of responsive web design is that sites load quickly with no distractions, so users don’t have to manually resize anything to view the content.
Take this KeyCDN blog site for example. The layout changes based on the dimensions of the screen while maintaining a consistent responsive presentation:
The concept has existed for decades, but developers began to truly recognize the benefits of responsive web design in the mid-2000s as more consumers began using mobile devices. As designers struggled to make sure their websites looked attractive on desktops, smartphones, and tablets, they quickly learned that flexible layouts were needed. Therefore, they created websites that “respond” to users’ devices.
Today, more users access the web with mobile devices than with traditional laptops or desktops, so the field continues to grow.
Companies with websites that don’t serve mobile users are going extinct. To reach a wider audience of potential customers, businesses must embrace the benefits of responsive web design. Likewise, it is a concept that all working developers must understand.
A Brief History of Responsive Web Design
The first website designed to optimize its layout based on the width of the browser viewport was Audi.com, launched in 2001. To describe terms such as “fluid,” “flexible,” “liquid,” and “elastic” were used interchangeably. The same idea until developer Ethan Marcotte invented the phrase “responsive web design” in a 2010 essay. Marcotte wrote a book on the subject in 2011 entitled “Responsive Web Design.”
Principles Behind the Benefits of Responsive Web Design
There are a few key principles at the core of how Reactive Web Design works. Below we will discuss the 3 main components that make Reactive Web Design possible.
Fluid grid
Fluid grids are grid systems based on the user’s screen as opposed to fixed-width layouts that always appear the same. While the term is sometimes used synonymously with “fluid layout”, fluid grids ensure that all elements are resized in relation to each other.
To calculate the appropriate ratio, simply divide the width of each element by the total width of the page. This can be achieved by taking measurements from high fidelity mockups created in a pixel-based image editor. Resist the temptation to round values, otherwise, your layout will display the wrong proportions.
Media queries
Fluid grids accomplish just that. As browsers have become compact, new challenges have arisen, which is why we need media queries. Most modern browsers support CSS3 media queries, which enable websites to collect data from individual visitors and apply CSS styles conditionally. The min-width media feature allows designers to apply specific CSS styles once the browser window is smaller than a specified width. Take the following example:
The media query above tells the browser not to show the foobar class whenever the viewport is less than 1100px.
flexible images
Perhaps the biggest challenge for responsive web design is resizing images. An easier alternative is to use CSS’s max-width property, which ensures that images load at their original size until the viewport is less than the width of the image.
With the maximum width set to 100 percent of the field of view, images will shrink proportionally when the screen or browser is narrowed. Instead of declaring height and width within code, you can enable the browser to automatically resize images as directed by CSS. Be aware that some older Windows browsers have trouble rendering images properly when they are resized.
Apart from image resolution, you should also take into account load times when resizing images. Large images intended for viewing on a monitor can slow down resizing mobile devices as well. That’s why it’s important to take advantage of responsive image features like srcset and size.
Top Ten Benefits of Reactive Web Design
Responsive web design benefits designers, developers, businesses and most important users in the following ways:
1. More Mobile Traffic
According to a report by SimilarWeb, more than half of the traffic to the top websites in the US in 2015 came from mobile devices. Therefore, it is very important for companies to have websites that render properly on small screens so that users do not face distorted images. Or experience a sub-optimal site layout. While some businesses still choose a different version of their website for mobile users, responsive design is becoming the norm as it offers more versatility at a lower development cost.
2. Fast Mobile Development at Low Cost
It takes significantly less time to build a responsive website than to build a stand-alone mobile application in addition to a standard desktop website. Since time is money, responsive design naturally costs less than the alternative. Even if the initial investment of one responsively designed website turns out to be more expensive than building two separate websites, you may end up with maintenance costs, specialized configuration costs, and more in the long run. etc. can save. Two different versions.
3.Low Maintenance Required
Maintaining a separate mobile site requires additional testing and support. In contrast, the responsive design process uses standardized testing methodologies to ensure optimal layout on each screen. Having a separate desktop and mobile sites also requires two content strategies, two administrative interfaces, and potentially two design teams. The “one size fits all” approach of responsive design means fewer headaches for developers, business owners, and consumers. Spending less time on maintenance also frees up time to focus on more important things like marketing and content creation.
4. Fast Page
Mobile users in particular have short attention spans. Studies show that mobile visitors skip web pages that take more than three seconds to load. If a site is not optimized for smartphones and tablets, it will also take longer to navigate, which can frustrate customers with no return. Ensuring that your responsive website uses modern performance technologies such as caching and responsive image display will help improve the loading speed of your web pages.
5. Low bounce rate
A responsive and optimized mobile site provides a better user experience for the visitor. Therefore, there is a high chance that they will persist for a long time and explore different areas of your site. Alternatively, if your site is not responsive, it is more difficult to keep visitors engaged and therefore more likely to bounce.
6. High Conversion Rate
Conquering your bounce rate is only half the battle. Creating a consistent user experience across devices is the key to converting new customers. When users are choosing whether or not to subscribe to a service. They do not want to be redirected to device-specific websites because the method often takes longer. Having a professional-looking single secure website. Across all platforms reduces the chances of users getting disappointed or turning to a competitor.
7. Easy Analysis Reporting
Making informed improvements requires knowing where traffic is coming from and how users interact with your website. Handling various versions of a website requires developers to track users’ journey through various conversion paths, funnels, and redirects. Having a unique responsive site greatly simplifies the monitoring method
Understanding web design is becoming as important to search engine optimization as group content. Google Analytics and similar tools now cater to responsive websites by condensing tracking and analytics into one report so you can see how your content is performing across different devices.
8. Better SEO
Understanding web design is becoming as important to search engine optimization as group content. More powerful backlinks and better bounce charges translate into higher search rankings, but there is an attached SEO benefit to mobile-optimized sites.
9. Better Online Browsing Experience
First impacts are everything, so whether someone is touring a website for the first time on their desktop or their smartphone, you want them to have a consistently confident experience. If visitors have to zoom, shrink, and pinch their screen a lot during their first visit, they may give up and try another website.
10. Better Offline Browsing Experience
Now that many smartphones and tablets are HTML5 enabled responsive. Web design benefits users by making it easier for users to continue viewing the content within HTML5 web applications without an Internet connection. Learn more about HTML5 Application Cache.