Responsive Web Design is Necessary for Businesses to Succeed
For a years businesses have known that a buggy or slow website is the kiss of death. In our rapidly evolving digital age, a bad website translates to bad business. But, as new technologies become ever more prominent, businesses need to adapt to these shifts. Over the last few years smart phones and tablets have changed the face of Internet usage, and it is becoming clear that businesses must engage with these technologies in order to maintain and grow their customer base. In fact, earlier this year studies showed that mobile apps have surpassed desktop usage. Because of this, responsive web design is quickly becoming the standard for businesses trying to adapt to a multi-platform world.
Responsive web design adapts to the screen size and viewing capabilities of various devices. This means that your website will appear slightly different whether someone accesses it from their smartphone, tablet, or laptop. Without a responsive web design, a website designed for desktop and laptop access will not appear correctly on a smaller device. Images and text may be cut off or the view will need to be resized by the user on sites without a responsive web design. By adapting to screen size, businesses can optimize their users experience and increase mobile traffic on their site. Responsive web design allows sites to load faster and display correctly on a variety of devices and screen sizes.
Mobile apps are also popular among businesses, but Google has made it clear that they prefer responsive websites to mobile template sites. Since responsive web design relies on a single URL instead of a slightly different URL for each device, Google and other search engines prefer it for SEO. When Google issues such a strong stance on website configuration it is important for businesses to take note and follow suit.
Additionally, we may not know what technologies may be developed, but responsive web design can ensure that a site will function on new devices. Recently a study found that only 1 in 5 retailers had sites optimized for the new Amazon Fire phone. However, because responsive web design is simply about automatically adjusting a website based on screen size, site that use RWD run seamlessly on the new device. Responsive web design offers optimized viewing on any device without the need to develop a separate app of mobile specific URL. By utilizing RWD, businesses can maximize their mobile traffic with minimal resources and costs.
Sources:
http://www.wb2.com/responsive-web-design-necessary-businesses-succeed/