Over the last few years, we have seen a subtle shift towards mobile gadgets. The days when customers can only find their target businesses online by going on a desktop are long gone. The current state of technology means that customers can now quickly conduct business related searches on smartphones, tablets and even smartwatches.
With more people using mobile devices, businesses are being forced to create online presence that aptly caters for all cadres of users regardless of device being used to access content. This has given rise to responsive design. In the past, businesses had to maintain mobile and desktop versions of their online portals to cater for both desktop and mobile visitors. With responsive design however, businesses are now able to deliver a uniform experience to their target audience regardless of device being used.
This piece takes a look at how businesses have benefitted from responsive web design and why your business should embrace it.
Improved user experience
“Having a fast website is the first step to offering quality user experience to your target audience” says Brendan Wilde at Umbrellar. “However,this must be complemented by high quality user experience. A fast loading website that renders poorly on mobiles will therefore inhibit your chances of generating quality business leads and making sales”.
Cheaper online presence
As mentioned earlier, responsive web design enables business to save money on developing a special mobile interface for their website. The costs saved by ditching mobile development can be channelled towards marketing improvements.
Increased search visibility
When all your SEO efforts are targeted towards one page, it is easier and of course, cheaper to achieve your SERP ranking targets. The uniformity of link profiles, content, hyperlinks etc. helps drive better SEO results.
Increased sales and conversion
Since businesses that have embraced responsive design are able to deliver accessible content to all their clients regardless of what device they may be using, sales and conversions end up increasing. Businesses are able to target more prospective clients, presenting services to them on platforms they are most comfortable on.
Easy content management
Managing and maintaining website content following responsive design based development is straightforward. Site administrators can make necessary changes in images, text, videos, layouts etc. when needed and they only have to do it only once. In most cases, the administrative duties can be completed without the help of a web developer.
Unified metrics reporting
For any business, monitoring and analysis are important. A single website allows you to seamlessly analyse all your visitors in one window regardless of device being used to access your website. Customer tracking, conversion numbers and website usage stats can all be seen in one window, allowing easy pinpointing of needful changes.
The shift in technology trends means that responsive web design is a must have for any business. Adapting to this shift is vital to staying competitive especially for businesses in niches where customers are mostly made up of millennials and the upwardly mobile.