The move to mobile and responsive web design

We’ve all had the same frustrating problem, you visit a website on your smartphone or tablet and the formatting is so distorted that you look elsewhere.

Apple sold over 35 million iPhones in the first financial quarter of this year, Microsoft has just launched a new range of tablet computers and Smart TVs are being billed as “the next big thing”. As the industry changes it is vital that businesses embrace these emerging technologies and adapt their online offering to improve functionality and increase accessibility.

Rather than creating a website for desktop viewing and an additional site for mobile viewing, responsive web design uses fluid grid layouts to adapt the design of a site to the relevant browser and screen size, whether that is a traditional PC screen, a tablet or a smartphone.

An obvious advantage of implementing responsive web design is improving usability and in the case of e-commerce sites, increasing conversions. Also, since responsive web design uses a single URL (separate mobile sites would need additional URLs) it makes it easier for users to interact with the site and share content. A single URL also streamlines the SEO process, as search engines such as Google do not have to plough through additional websites to analyse content.

Sarah Scott, Account Manager commented: “Mobile search is expected to surpass desktop by 2016 so it’s vital that businesses invest in their mobile user experience.

“Developing additional sites for use on smartphones and tablets can become extremely expensive and time consuming, especially since new technologies are coming to market every day.

“The increased versatility of responsive web design requires less maintenance and as such is an approach which is being adapted by many companies who are mindful of the current economic climate.”