Essential tips for responsive web design

Ask yourself, where do you access the internet from? Is it your mobile device, maybe a tablet, or a desktop? According to Statista, “As of the second quarter of 2023, around 95.8% of global users accessed the internet via mobile phones, while over 93% reported doing so via smartphones.” With the internet increasingly accessed from mobile devices, it’s no longer enough to have a static website design that only looks good on a computer screen. 

The growth in the use of the internet on mobile and tablet devices has been the driving force behind the need for adaptability and responsive web design, so users can have optimal experiences no matter how they access businesses. 

This idea of responsive design has been present since the internet was available on mobile devices, but developers truly recognised its benefits during the mid-2000s when consumers started to use mobile phones a lot more. As designers struggled to make sure that their websites looked appealing on desktops, smartphones and tablets, they quickly discovered that flexible layouts were needed.

The key benefits of responsive design

ENHANCED USER EXPERIENCE

First impressions are everything when it comes to websites. Whether users are visiting for the first time or it is a repeated experience, if they have to do a lot of zooming and pinching their screen to see your tech content, they’re likely to give up and visit another site. 

BROADER AUDIENCE REACH 

As the use of mobile devices for accessing the online business is increasing, it’s important that your websites render properly on smaller screens, this way users won’t encounter problems when they are trying to view your content.

In recent years, mobile has also become one of the most important advertising channels. Even in a post-pandemic world, the mobile ad spend has grown 4.8%. Whether you’re choosing to advertise on social media or YouTube, the majority of your traffic will come from mobile users, so having a responsive web design is integral to reaching bigger audiences. 

IMPROVED CONVERSION RATES

Improving your site experience through responsive web design will lead to positive conversion rates, and creating a consistent user experience across all devices is key to converting your customers. With the use of standardised style sheets (CSS) across devices as well as a unified design approach, you can create a look which is consistent throughout. This will give your customers a sense of familiarity navigating across your site, and having a website that looks professional and secure on all platforms makes users less likely to turn to a competitor. 

ENHANCED ANALYTICS AND REPORTING

A single responsive site streamlines the process of tracking analytics and data of your consumers. Forget tracking user journeys, conversion paths, funnels and redirections between your sites, Google Analytics is optimised to handle multiple devices and responsive reporting, providing all your analytics insights into one single report. Knowing where this traffic is coming from and how users interact with your website is key to making informed improvements. 

ENHANCED BRAND IMAGE

When you’re creating a responsive web design, it’s important to maintain and create a strong brand image for your business. Equipped with the right tools, responsive websites must have a cohesive look and feel so they can remain familiar and professional to your audience, from navigation to content viewing. A consistent visual design, content strategy, and messaging framework helps users recognise your brand and understand what it represents.

ADAPTATION TO FUTURE DEVICES   

As the development of responsive design continues to grow, so does the growth of new application types alongside technology. With that said, responsive design will only become more complex. As people are now accessing the web through virtual reality headsets and advanced smartphones, adapting to new types of technology will show no shortage of challenges, but it is important to not to forget larger displays so everyone has similar user experiences going forward. 

Best practices to optimise your websites responsive design

MOBILE-FIRST DESIGN

As of December 2023, 56.1% of all web traffic cam through mobile phones. We know it’s easier to whip your phone out and scroll through a few web pages than opening up your laptop and signing in. With this in mind, design your website with a person using a mobile at the forefront of your developments. Start with the smaller screens then progressively enhance your site for larger screens. Make navigation simple and easy to use, and upload pictures with high resolution that still allow fast loading speeds.

ELIMINATE FRICTION 

As mentioned earlier, having a mobile-first approach to responsive web design helps designers determine what’s necessary for the user and what’s their objective. 

From mobile to tablet, and then finally onto the desktop version, it’s important to think about primary and secondary objectives, and how designers can make those objectives achievable. 

It’s important to prioritise the user's primary objectives – which could be to make a purchase – and remove any unnecessary friction that may not be beneficial or could be in the way of both objectives. 

TYPOGRAPHY CAN ALSO BE RESPONSIVE

Users may not have the time to read everything about your brand. That’s why website readability is essential. You want to use typography in a way that lets visitors consume as much information as they can in the shortest time possible. 

Typography can be responsive too, but you still need to consider using larger fonts to increase readability. But remember, a larger font may push the essential content you want someone to read further down on a page. Try varying font weights and optimise line heights and spacing for readability on various devices

Throughout the design process, check your text on different devices to see how it is presented. 

RESPONSIVE IMAGES

The quicker your website moves, the more positive experience a user has. To do this, you'll need responsive images that help you increase your web pages' loading speeds. If your webpage takes too long to load, the user might leave the site to find their information somewhere else that loads quicker. 

An easy option to resize your images is to use CSS's max-width rule, which ensures that images load and scale appropriately. Responsive images are a powerful and effective way to work around slow load times and become an increasingly important component of SEO, user experiences, and bounce rates. 

Key takeaways

Responsive web design has significantly enhanced the online experience. With the rise of smaller devices and on-the-go internet browsing, how we design and interact with websites depends on the device we are viewing it on. 

Responsive web design gives us what we need but at a faster and more digestible rate. We can now ease our way onto sites, navigate through menus, and consume content all at the touch of a few buttons. 

Looking to develop responsive web designs for your business? Contact us to learn more.