We’ve all seen this kind of website: dark background with strange looking font, images over the edge and navigation buttons hard to find. What’s even worse is that it’s hard to find the menu button. Fortunately, this is not a problem encountered by websites who have a responsive web design.
Thanks to smartphones, we are no longer restricted to browsing through our PCs and laptops. We also now have the option of forgoing shopping in physical stores. The problem starts when your website does not work well in mobile devices. You will not only lose visitors but a good chunk of customers too.
We at Creativ Digital believe that a responsive website plays an important role in attracting visitors and customers.
What is a Responsive Website?
A responsive web design means that page dimensions can be resized however you want. It will still work and look well whether it is viewed on a laptop or smartphone. According to studies, websites that do not provide a mobile friendly experience lose up to 69% of their users.
Benefits of Responsive Web Design
Still not convinced? Here are other reasons why you should invest in responsive web design.
More Traffic
According to a study by Adobe, 30% of people will stop viewing a website if it does not display well on their current mobile device. Additionally, another 41% said that they would leave a slow-loading website.
This means that websites that do not load quickly and are not mobile-friendly get less traffic compared to websites that have responsive web design.
Better UX
User experience has a big impact on your traffic and sales because good user experience makes visitors want to come back.
A good user experience does not only mean that your website looks good on any screen, it also means that is easy to use. We all like using a website that has an easy to access menu and buttons. A pleasant experience will make visitors come back to your site.
In other words, if you have a single responsive web design that smoothly changes across screen sizes it means that you provide good customer experience for visitors. Being consistent improves overall experience of visitors and has a big impact on traffic. The more high-quality traffic you get, the better your conversion rate will be.
Improved Google Ranking
Do you go to the second or third page of Google? If you can be found on the first page of Google, you have a better chance of reaching your audience. Having a mobile-friendly web design will help you get more customers because search engines like Google like sites with responsive web design. It can greatly impact ranking along with other optimization factors.
Other factors influence your local SEO ranking:
- Time on site
- Page load time
- Bounce rate
According to Google, 53% visitors will abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. Making your website responsive means that it will load quickly across all platforms. If visitors can get what they want quickly, they will spend more time in your website. This will then decrease bounce rate which in turn affects your Google ranking.
Higher Conversion Rate
People tend to research product and services on their phones and then do the purchasing on their desktops. If you provide a stable and good digital experience to visitors, they can continue where they left off and not feel any difference.
This will build trust in your website which will lead to a better conversion rate.
Cost-Effective Maintenance
Since you only need 1 version of your website, it will be easier and cheaper to maintain. Responsive websites usually have a single admin interface where you can access the site’s content.
Since you won’t need a dedicated web development team, your in-house digital marketing specialist can update the website. It will lower maintenance cost. With regular updates, you can rank higher on Google.
Saves Time
In the past, adaptive design ruled the digital world and you needed to maintain different versions of your website. This was problematic and expensive at the same time because it takes twice the work for your digital marketing team to update your website.
Converting your website to a responsive design means you only need one version. This is not only quicker to update but also easier to manage. If a website can be updated in 1 shot, it saves both time and money. And as well all know, time is money.
Bottom Line
According to Statista, approximately 59% of traffic comes from mobile devices. If majority of your traffic comes from smartphones and other mobile devices, don’t give them a half-good experience. Shifting to responsive web design will not only have a positive impact on your traffic but on your sales as well.
