Everything is at our fingertips; we search, shop, discuss, compare, publish and share online. We’ve grown accustomed to having everything served up to us, so it’s only natural to assume that website content will be accessible on all devices. The truth is that this isn’t necessarily the case, and often isn’t. Yet almost 50% of all web searches are carried out on mobile devices. If you don’t have a responsive design and users can’t read your website’s content on their mobile devices, you’re at a huge disadvantage (which others will be happy to exploit).
Responsive design from the very start
As we’ve touched upon, responsive web design is a website layout and styling that is optimised for all types of devices, such as mobile phones, laptops, netbooks, tablets and large screens. Responsive design provides users with a pleasant experience when viewing website content, regardless of the device they choose to use.
Inaccessibility is out of fashion: one example among many
According to a study on online shopping published on the website ceskykosikroku.cz, as many as 75% of Czech e-shops do not have a mobile version of their site. As a result, they are losing out on sales from customers who would like to use their mobile phones for online shopping but cannot, as the website of the e-shop operator they wish to buy from is not responsive. Let’s take a closer look at responsive design using a specific example: the website sedlakinterier.cz, which is also a new reference for AITOM.
We captured the client’s website on a mobile device before and after implementing responsive design.
NON-RESPONSIVE RESPONSIVE
What responsive design means for web designers
For a web designer, creating a responsive design involves more complex adjustments and also more time-consuming website management, as it is necessary to prepare and check the content on many devices. This, of course, is reflected in the final cost of the website. Investing in responsive design is certainly not a waste; not only will you make browsing as pleasant as possible for users, but according to Google research, responsive websites receive up to 40% more visits and orders than those without responsive design.
You can tell at a glance if a website lacks responsive design. If you want to test how a website with responsive design looks on a mobile device, try responsinator.com, which web designers also use as one of many ways to check their work.