Morgan Stanley’s analysts predict that more people will be utilizing the mobile web rather than using the web on their desktops and laptops by the year 2015. The reasoning behind this is that smartphones today have the capability to complete tasks done on a desktop just as well. Mobile internet surfing is far more convenient, especially for someone on the go. If you have a smartphone, you have the internet in your pocket (where ever there is service of course). Social media and networking drastically increases mobile usage when it comes to people checking their Facebook, Twitter, etc. accounts. The convenience of it all trumps home computers and is the reason why mobile surfing is the way of the future.
So what is responsive web design and how does it relate? In
the past businesses would have two sites: one for the desktop, and one for
mobile. Now that there are handfuls of different screen sizes to design for the
answer for it all is to utilize responsive web design. Responsive sites are
capable of scaling down or up to any screen size if coded correctly, and it
only has to be done once. Say goodbye to mobile.website.com and welcome
website.com for any screen size!
Responsive sites use grid systems to delineate information. Without
a grid, the site would not know how to respond to the change in screen size.
Keeping it simple will make your job easier in the end and won’t make your
information feel cluttered. A few premade grids that most designers use
include: Bootstrap, Foundation, Skeleton,
and The Golden Grid System.
It’s really important for businesses to upgrade their site to a responsive design because if a possible customer tries to access your site and it’s not mobile or tablet friendly, you might just lose their business. The friendlier the user experience is, the better the outcome. Responsive design is also good for SEO. This is so because there is only one place where the URL lives on the web rather than multiple places. As you can see, responsive web design is crucial for business and should be utilized to increase profits through mobile web traffic.
Post written by: Erica Gallo