We hear it quite often: responsive design. But what exactly does it mean and why is it so important? Nowadays users access websites through many different devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktopts. The goal of responsive design is to ensure that the user experience stays on top and the website looks good on all kind of devices.

But what does responsive design actually mean?

It is a way to develop a website that automatically scales the content to match the screen size on which it is viewed. For example: a classic horizontal website navigation gets hidden behind a button on a smartphone and when you click on it, the menu is vertically aligned to fit the screen.

Instead of having to programm different versions of a website to make them fit different screen sizes, you can make only one website that scales with the screen size of the user. This way ensures that the website looks good on every device, elements are easily accessible and the user journey is uninterrupted.

Is it worth to invest into responsive design?

The short answer here is definitely yes. What makes it so important to invest in are following topics:

Improving the user experience

If your website is responsive, you gurantee your users a great experience regardless on what device they are using. Users will spend more time on your website if it’s easy to navigate and visually appealing.

Reducing bounce rates

It takes a user about 0.05 seconds to form an opinion about a website and if they like it or not. Keep that in mind when looking on your website, if it’s not displaying images correct or if the interface seems confusing, the user already decided to rather dislike it.

Improve SEO

SEO is important and optimizing your website in regards of that means a better ranking on Google. The better the SEO, the more likely is it that new customers visit your page. With a responsive website you have more time to invest in keywords and research of the cometitpors and it allows you to focus on ranking better on Google.

Cost-effective

Imagine having to update several versions of your website… and now compare it to only have one website that’s optimized for multiple devices. With a website like that you can save money by only having to maintain and update only one website what makes the process way faster.

More sales

Users are more likely to make a purchase on a website they like. If the design is appealing and the user journey easy to go through, you can achieve more sales or form submissions on your website.