Responsive Web Design has really taken off during the last few years because of the increase in the number of mobile device users who access information online.
If your website isn’t mobile-friendly(responsive) yet, you are really missing a huge share of traffic. This is even more critical in the case of eCommerce websites because losing traffic can result in losing sales & profit as well.
Because of the fact that most internet users access online information through their smart devices, it has become mandatory(not fancy) that an eCommerce website must comply with responsive web design norms in order to succeed.
In this blog post, I am going to share the necessity of responsive web design for online stores. But before that let’s have a look over the definition of responsive web design, its benefits, and how to check the responsiveness of a website.
What is a responsive website design?
A responsive website adapts its layout to match various screen sizes, ensuring optimal user experience across devices such as desktops, tablets, and smartphones. By employing flexible grids and media queries, responsive design allows content to seamlessly adjust to different resolutions. This approach not only enhances user engagement but also boosts search engine rankings. Embracing responsive design empowers businesses to stay relevant in a mobile-driven world, captivating audiences regardless of the devices they use. Most web developers and designers these days build only responsive websites.
What are the benefits of a responsive design?
Enhanced User Experience: A responsive website provides a seamless and consistent user experience across all devices, leading to higher user satisfaction.
Increased Mobile Traffic: With the surge in mobile device usage, responsive design attracts and retains more mobile visitors, expanding your website’s reach.
Improved SEO Performance: Responsive websites are favored by search engines, resulting in higher rankings and better visibility in search results.
Cost-Effectiveness: Maintaining a single responsive site is more economical than managing separate websites for different devices.
Higher Conversion Rates: A user-friendly experience on mobile devices increases the likelihood of conversions and sales.
Adaptability to Future Devices: Responsive design ensures your website remains compatible with upcoming devices and technologies.
Easy Management: With one website to update, content management and updates become more efficient and streamlined.
How to check the responsiveness of a website?
Manual Testing: Resize your browser window on your desktop and observe how the website adapts to different sizes.
Mobile Emulators: Use online tools or browser extensions to emulate various mobile devices and see how the website renders.
Device Testing: Access the website on actual smartphones, tablets, and other devices to ensure a consistent experience.
Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test: Use Google’s free tool to analyze if the website meets mobile-friendly standards.
Browser Developer Tools: Utilize browser developer tools to simulate different devices and resolutions for testing.
Load Time Analysis: Check the website’s loading speed on different devices to ensure optimal performance.
Cross-Browser Testing: Verify responsiveness on multiple browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.) to cater to diverse users.
User Feedback: Gather feedback from actual users across devices to identify any responsiveness issues and make improvements accordingly.
The necessity of a responsive website design
#1 Increase in mobile usage
Most online users who access information on the internet use their hand-held devices to browse websites. Having said this, it really sounds illogical if an eCommerce website hasn’t been developed using responsive web design. The lack of a responsive online store will simply result in low sales & profit.
So, if you also run an eCommerce business but don’t have a responsive online store yet, hire an eCommerce web developer now to do this job for you. You will certainly notice the improvement in your overall sales from your website (if your website already attracts a good amount of traffic).
#2 Good for SEO
While responsive eCommerce websites are good for the user’s experience, it also helps the website to rank in higher positions in search results. In other words, search engines like Google love responsive websites and seriously consider these websites to rank higher over non-responsive websites.
#3 Social media traffic
As we all know that social media platforms like Facebook play an important role to attract the audience to the website. At the same time, we also know that more than 50% of users access social media websites using their hand-held devices.
By having a non-responsive eCommerce store, you may not be leveraging your existing traffic from social media.
#4 Beat the competition
Have you ever spied on your competitors? I bet most of your competitors must have a responsive eCommerce website. If that’s the case, by not having a responsive online store, you are really giving away a considerable amount of business to them.
#5 User experience enhancement
As I’ve already mentioned several times in this blog most users access websites through their mobiles, and they expect to have an easy or in other words mobile-friendly browsing experience. You will really disappoint your users if you don’t have a responsive website. Think about it.
Final Words
I know this blog post may become irrelevant in the coming years because all the websites will be built using responsive web design only. So, there will be no need to raise the awareness of webmasters and eCommerce business owners about the importance of responsive websites.
But for those businesses who haven’t adapted the responsive website design for their eCommerce websites yet, this is the right time to do so.
