The facts speak for themselves. Already mobile sales have outstripped desktop sales. Pretty soon, if not already, online usage via mobiles will outstrip that on desktops. It’s only a short step for mobile searching to outstrip desktop searching. That being the case you absolutely need a responsive web designed website.

Responsive web design

Imagine liquid on a flat surface. You tilt the surface and the liquid moves effortlessly in a certain direction. In a way, that’s responsive web design. Before responsive web design we had websites created for desktop computers that were essentially squished into little tiny screens, offering very little in usability. And since you can’t read what you were seeing, you would have to resort to the pinch and zoom technique or wait till you were in front of a computer. What a bother.

Responsive web design is the liquid approach where pages re-adjust its optimal layout to suit the device which is accessing the website. Gone are the days of pinching and zooming, which are now replaced with intuitive one-touch browsing. Screens are touch-sensitive making navigation smooth, quick and effortless. But it’s not just the ease of movement which is important. A responsive website will work just as well on a small hand-held device as it will on a super large monitor of a desktop Mac or PC. It’s a flexible site. That’s so important today because of the huge uptake in tablets and phones. The responsive web design enables your web site to adjust seamlessly to whatever device is being used.

Should I go with a responsive web design?

Well if you consider the following benefits it’s a bit of no-brainer. You want to reach the widest audience possible but know that people are accessing the web via many different platforms. A responsive website will put your site in everyone’s hands.

Think of the cost saving. If you have one site for computers and another for mobiles, you’ve immediately doubled your outlay and have twice the amount of maintenance. You’re wasting time and money.

Google likes responsive websites. Surely if you needed convincing, that has to be the clincher. The company which can put your business at or near the top of its super powerful search engine likes responsive web designed websites. Google openly states its preference for responsive websites and describes the process as being state of the art and industry best practice. No to mention, Google also rates sites according to the user-experience factor for mobile devices.

What is the future of online platforms? Will tablets and mobiles be a thing of the past next year? Hardly as sales and usage of these devices is booming. More and more online business is conducted this way and it’s simply too expensive to ignore this shift in society.