How to Develop a Responsive Website and Its Importance for Business Growth?

• By Kemar • s

Are you reading this article on a desktop or a handheld device? How many devices do you use day-to-day to access the internet? Do you use different devices at different times of the day?
Answer yourself and try to evaluate the necessity of different devices in day-to-day usage.
When we look at the current marketplace, we see that we have an abundant number of device options to explore the internet. Unlike previous decades where people had limited options, the revolution in the mobile device market has brought significant changes to our lives. We use different devices at different times of the day, of which desktops or laptops rule our work hours, tablet devices entertain us after work and mobiles keep us engaged during the commute.
There are more mobile internet users than desktop internet users; 52.7% of global internet users access the internet via mobile, and 75.1% of U.S. internet users access the internet via mobile.
The mobile internet usage demographics are consistently rising each year and implications are clear – you need to upgrade to the mobile business strategy while retaining your desktop audience as well. To accomplish this strategy successfully you need to build a responsive website design.
So what is a Responsive Web Design?
As the name suggests, a responsive website design automatically adapts depending on the user device or platform. A business website design becomes extremely flexible when responsive and it could easily fit into dimensions of the different user devices, just like the way water takes up the shape and dimensions of a container it's kept in. These websites are developed with a viewpoint of optimizing user experience in reading and navigation across a range of devices like desktop, laptop, mobile or tablets.
When you have large numbers of customers using varied devices to access your website, creating a responsive website is your most viable option
Mobile website VS Responsive website –

Google says 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing and 40% will end up on a competitor's site instead.

Desktop and internet have a long history of association; the fixed devices were the first we used up for browsing the internet. As soon as mobile devices became internet accessible and with the boom of the Smartphone, online fiends built up the need for browsing on the go - whether it was to find about a baseball score, chat with friends or to see what the forecasted weather was for the week. Since the bulky desktop websites were inconvenient to browse and people needed active solutions, many businesses felt the need to launch mobile websites. These websites offered a compressed version of content and functionality for the mobile users. However, the maintenance of separate desktop and mobile websites posed major challenges for these businesses as well.
Mobile website – The mobile website is basically a compressed and toned down version of the main desktop website.
Pros –
●     Customized user experience
●     Commendable browsing experience
●     Same server could be used
Cons –
●     Needs separate domain
●     Harms organic search traffic
●     Not good for SEO
●     High maintenance
●     Cost and time consuming
Responsive website – The responsive website basically works on the principle of adapting as per the dimensions of the device platform, including device size (large or small) as well as orientation.
 Pros –
●     Flexibility
●     Wipes out the scope of redirects
●     SEO friendly
●     Google recommends it
●     Better Return on Investment (ROI)
●     Saves development cost for different platforms
●     Easy to maintain
●     Improved conversion rate
Cons –
●     Can't customize for the specific set of users.
●     Outdated browsers might not support this website.
●     The single user experience for different platforms.
You get the picture now. Responsive Websites are a clear winner and an unavoidable step that must be taken to keep up with your major competitors.
Seek leading website development services Vancouver for developing responsive website for your business.
How to develop a responsive website?
Responsive websites involve the use of HTML and CSS techniques for improving the flexibility of your website across all devices. The following three primary concepts describe how this flexibility is created –
● Changeable Grids – Responsive websites use a changeable grid system formed of intersecting vertical and horizontal lines. It helps the website in structuring content and other elements in an unpredictable manner.
● Flexible Images – This is another prerequisite of a responsive website - images should adapt to the dimensions of the varied device platforms. This is done by placing images in changeable grids and setting them to full-width.
● Media Queries – Media queries help with breaking down of design and content depending on device size. That means the same desktop design could be used uninterruptedly in the mobile device too.
Gold Mind Digital Web Development services Vancouver would help you assess your business requirements and appropriate actions to be taken, including responsive website development. Assess your current risks, future trends and prospective ways to improve e-commerce business with the right set of strategies.