What does responsive web design mean and why is it important?
To have a responsive website means that the website has been designed and programmed to automatically adapt to any particular device you may be using, whether it’s a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.
Google and other search engines give websites that are responsive higher priority, as the majority of web traffic now comes from smartphone and tablet devices. In fact, when performing web searches using a smartphone Google will let you know which websites are ‘mobile-friendly’.
For this reason, dodify always offers our customers websites with responsive design, that is adaptable to all smartphones.
When designing for mobile devices things we take into consideration include:
- Emphasizing vital content: tablet and smartphone screens are smaller, which of course means users will not be able to take in as much information at a glance as they would if they were using a larger device. This means that to maintain user engagement and higher likelihood of completing key CTAs that the most important information should be highlighted first. This could mean that the content on mobile devices may vary from content on larger devices;
- Designing for fingers vs. designing for a mouse: the way people interact with mobile devices is different from the way we interact using a device with a mouse. It’s easier to be more precise with a mouse, which is why you may (or may not!) have noticed that on mobile devices buttons may seem bigger;
- To keep or not to keep your menu/header, that is the question. Knowing that you have less space on a mobile device we need to evaluate the structure of main menus and submenus and consider things like whether a menu should be visible at all times (ie. a sticky menu) or if it is OK to have it disappear as users scroll down the page;
- How easy is it to read the content? When designing for mobile we need to reconsider the font size, font type, and even things like resizing images.
We are very experienced in designing for responsive websites so if you’re looking to create a new website, contact us!
We include responsive design in the cost of creating new websites.
Feel free to get in touch by email or give us a call so we can discuss your requirements and answer any questions you may have.
