Why Is Responsive Web Design Essential for UX?
The share of mobile devices in global web traffic has surged over the past years, reaching its peak in November 2022, with 60.28% of the world’s internet traffic coming from mobile.
Mobile devices owe their popularity to the fact that they make web surfing much more fun and convenient. One can be commuting, waiting in line for a morning espresso, or having a rest-all while searching for something online.
However, from time to time, users will land on a website that requires them to pinch and zoom to read the illegibly tiny text or click a button. It’s safe to say that such a website doesn’t provide them with the experience they were expecting.
What all businesses need to do to cater to the incessantly increasing number of mobile users is to build a responsive website. Responsive web design makes a site look and works seamlessly, regardless of the screen size and orientation of the device it’s being viewed on.
Responsive web design is crucial for ensuring visitors have a valuable and satisfying experience on a site. In this article, we’ll outline four ways responsive design improves a website’s UX.
Mobile devices owe their popularity to the fact that they make web surfing surged over the past years, reaching its peak in November 2022, with 60.28% of the world’s internet traffic coming from mobile.
#1 Responsive Website Is Accessible Across Devices
We’ve already mentioned that the essence of responsiveness is the adaptability of a website to different screen sizes. It’s not hard to see the appeal of it-after all, over three-quarters of adults in the US own a smartphone. Moreover, over 70% of internet users expect a business website to be mobile-friendly.
However, responsiveness doesn’t just mean mobile-friendliness. A responsive website entails fluid layouts, flexible grids, and different font sizes that adapt to all screen devices-including 10.2-inch iPads and 34-inch desktop monitors.
#2 Responsive Web Design Benefits SEO
While responsive web design is not a confirmed Google ranking factor, the search engine’s spokespeople implied its importance on multiple occasions. With users increasingly switching to mobile devices, Google (and other search engines) recognized the importance of websites easily rendering on any device.
That’s why Google’s algorithm favors sites designed and optimized for mobile devices. Responsive web design isn’t a guarantee of good rankings, but it’s definitely a great start toward achieving them.
It isn’t uncommon for businesses to accidentally create two versions of a website—one mobile and one desktop. Though the URLs may be different, in the eyes of Google, this is considered duplicate content—and it hurts your SEO (search engine optimization) rankings. This is another reason why responsive web design is crucial.
#3 Responsive Website Makes for a Better User Experience
A website’s SEO efforts benefit from responsive design in more ways than catering to the algorithm. For instance, responsive websites load faster on both mobile and desktops, as their design is structured to perfectly fit the screen they load on.
Fast loading times are among the vital elements of a great UX.
Ideally, a website should take one to two seconds to load on a mobile device. 53% of mobile visitors will bounce after waiting for more than three seconds.
In addition, once users land on a responsive website, they are greeted by a fantastically-looking and usable site. Increased usability boosts the quality of user experience, lowers bounce rate (i.e., ensures users don’t immediately leave your website), and, ultimately, improves conversion rates.
For businesses, the ultimate goal is making a profit off of their website investment. Multiple statistics show that integrating responsiveness into your design process works, as around half of the eCommerce profits come from mobile devices.
Even if you are a company looking for non-profit website design services, responsiveness should be among the requirements for your future design provider. A responsive web design will ensure your website’s greater visibility and help spread the word about your nonprofit’s cause (as we will discuss in the next section).
#4 Responsiveness Makes Social Sharing Easy
A responsive website makes it easy for visitors to engage with it, enjoy its content, and share it with friends in group chats or on their social media profiles. As responsive web design is built primarily for mobile users, social sharing features naturally come to mind during the design and development processes.
Social sharing makes no true impact on a website’s rankings; however, increased visibility might help in achieving a greater reach of content among target users.
Therefore, responsive design may help grow your audience online, increase the number of users visiting your website, and, ultimately, bring more customers to your business.