What is responsive web design and why you should invest in it
Responsive Web Design is the action of making a web page accessible by any type of device or machine, regardless of its screen resolution and dimensions. This includes computers, notebooks, tablets, smartphones and other portable devices.
This feature is achieved with the combination of two very popular programming languages: HTML, responsible for the text structure, and CSS, which composes and groups the entire visual style of a website.
The main objective of a website with a responsive web design is to make it accessible to as many people as possible. The more devices, screens and resolutions it supports, the greater the chances of being able to attract large amounts of traffic.
Furthermore, the concept of Responsive Web Design can also be extended to the User Experience (UX). There is little point in a website being responsive if it does not deliver a high quality of usability, considering consistency in the positioning of elements along with performance, on any type of device where it is accessed.
5 principles of Responsive Web Design
We need to clarify some basic principles about responsive web design to consolidate the whole concept. To make the process easier, let's just focus on layouts. Responsive design goes far beyond the above, and if you want to learn about it, the layout is the best way to start.
Flow: as soon as the device's screen decreases in size, the content also starts to fill a more vertical space, where everything below is “pushed” down as well.
Relative Measurements: pixel density can also vary, and that's why we also need flexible measures that work anywhere. For example, doing something on the 50% scale means it will always take up half the screen, on any device.
Breakpoints: allows the layout to change at predefined points. Having 3 columns on a desktop, but only one column on mobile devices, for example. Most CSS properties can be changed from one breakpoint to another.
Minimum and Maximum Values: imagine that you configure an element to occupy the entire screen, thinking of a cell phone. However, the person opens your website on a Television, for example. That element will look weird and distorted.
System fonts: if you choose fonts from the web, each of their fonts will have to be loaded, and the greater the quantity of them, the longer it will take for the page to load. System fonts are much faster.
If you want to invest in SEO, always prefer Google fonts. Most of the searches done nowadays are done by this mechanism and the page loading speed is very important to get better positions in SERP.
Why you should invest in responsive web design
If you have a website, you want it to be successful. More than that: that the greatest number of people can access it from the most varied types of compatible devices. In other words, the traffic received will be the basis of his success.
Currently, over 70% of all internet traffic is via smartphones. After all, with a mobile internet connection, any user can access a page, shop online, bank and search from anywhere in the world.
That's why, in addition to an attractive page, the textual and visual elements that make it up need to adjust to different screen sizes. This even includes internet browsers, which may have specific compatibility with the type of website.
Also, your website needs to be responsive in design depending on the user's skill. A page that does not adapt its textual and visual part to various platforms, screens and resolutions is doomed to oblivion, as it makes navigation and access to information, products and prices difficult.
Also, for search engines (Google), mobile device users have priority in search results. This means that responsive sites with an experience focused on the user's well-being are better positioned in the global rankings.
Benefits of Having a Responsive Web Design
Let’s look at some benefits that can convince you of investing in a responsive web design for your site.
1. Improves SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is nothing more than a set of techniques that you can apply to your website so that it is better positioned in search engines. And, with that, it is more easily found by users.
A website's responsiveness also acts as one of the main SEO factors that drive a page's ranking. Sites in which all textual and visual elements, products and services are easily found, in addition to being adapted to any device and screen resolutions, receive greater attention from search engines.
Apart from that, a responsive website uses the same URL and HTML structure, regardless of the device used to access it. For Google, this is much more interesting, as the search engine only needs to crawl, index and manage the content of the page once, which causes it to be taken to the top of the search results.
2. Single Version
One of the great advantages of having a responsive website is that you only need to create a single version of your website. In other words, it is not necessary to create several page templates so that your website adapts to the widest possible range of devices.
This means that the way your website's layout is displayed will always remain unchanged, even if it is accessed by any compatible computer, notebook, tablet, smartphone or handheld device.
This saves you not only time but also money. Because you won't need to plan the positioning of the text and look of your website in several versions. Only one and definitive.
3. Easier Management
Having a single version of your responsive website also makes it easier to manage. For example, when doing a general update, you will only need to do it once. And that same update will be replicated without any changes on all devices where the site is accessed.
And again, some of the most immediate benefits of making it easy to manage are time and money savings. You won't need to spend extra time updating all versions of your website. And, much less, invest in manpower to perform the changes and tweaks you have for all devices.
4. Creates Brand Awareness
Brand awareness comes from brand awareness, an English expression that indicates what kind of impression or analytical perception users or customers have of a brand. And a website with responsive design is all about this subject.
First, as a responsive layout, search engines prioritize sites that make it easier for the user to find information, products and services more easily within a domain. Since user experience matters a lot, soon a responsive site starts to appear in better positions on search pages, becoming known to more people.
Afterwards, interactions with a page and transactions completed safely and efficiently, it appears that a responsive website is adapted to the user who uses any type of device. This generates, over time, presence, credibility and trust, which can make a company stand out compared to others.
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