Why do we need a Responsive Design?

“Responsive design is the approach that suggests that design and development should respond to the users behaviour and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation. As the user switches from their laptop to iPad, the website should automatically switch to accommodate for resolution, image size and scripting abilities. This would eliminate the need for a different design and development phase for each new gadget on the market.” – Kayla Knight, Smashing Magazine

Business Insider explains there has been a growth in people buying smartphones with an increase of 44% sold (677 million) from 2011. PC sales are lower than the previous year, with smartphones being sold more than PC’s. There are many predictions for the future including 1.2 billion smart devices will be sold in 2013 (up 50% from 2012) and this is why we need responsive design, as more people are using these devices over PC’s. Here’s some reasons why:

Accessibility

Reaching customers is really important and a study by Morgan Stanley found that 91% of people have their smartphones on them 24/7. People are becoming more dependent on their mobile phones and what is accessible to them. This is a great opportunity for businesses to take this as an advantage as 9 out of 10 smartphone searches result in an action (visiting a companies website, buying, etc.) – “The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Users” A Google study found.

Branding

Customers expect a website to look great on a PC, aswell as on a smart device. If customers cant use a website on their mobile phone, this could could cause damaging effects on the company by loosing customers.

Cost

Yes, responsive design is more expensive, however what you get from a responsive design can bring you in more revenue, so you have to look at the cost of this and how it will benefit you.

Content

Responsive design uses one website and URL over all devices, therefore eliminating cross-technology. Responsive design also helps with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and helps improve a websites search rank.

Mobile Marketing

Email marketing is effective and companies should use HTML to produce responsive emails. “Customers who come through to your website from a well-designed mobile email, could be turned off if they come across a disappointing mobile website that lacks sufficient user-friendly functionality” explains Bridgeline Digital.

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