Responsive Web Designs

What is a responsive website?

A mobile responsive website is a webpage that looks great on all devices and screens. The designers uses an approach that fits each template into many patterns so that it will look right on all of them.

Since 2010 responsive websites have been the trend. Google loves to rank them well because the rise in search traffic on mobile devices is on a huge upward trend. Most people use small screen devices and when your page isn’t optimized the user will leave the page fast and google doesn’t like sending people to pages they can’t read.

If you are looking for a responsive website check for a web designer who specializes in SEO optimized websites like.

How do responsive sites look?

The key is to use a design that works for one site and set up the elements to respond differently. You can use different grid setups and themes to help with this process.

Lets look at a regular old “fixed” site. They will be viewed on a desktop computer and lets say it has 4 columns. On a smaller layout like a tablet or phone it will change into one long column, or 2 columns and 2 rows depending on how you code it. Also the text will have to change size depending on the screen so that it is still easily readable to the user.

You will want to use optimized images also because you don’t want your page to load slowly on small devices and 3g and 4g. So responsive sites are best used with optimized images. There are many programs and plugins you can get to help you optimize those images for webpages.

The main detail is: with responsive designs, the websites will automatically adjust based on the size of the  device the viewer sees it in.

What are common ways to make pages responsive?

You can use Responsive grids. All pre formatted  page elements are sized proportionately, rather than by pixels. So if you have 2 columns, you wouldn’t say exactly how wide each should be, but rather how wide they should all be in relation overall. Column 1 should take up half the page, column 2 should take up the other 50%.

Using Media such as pics are also resized relatively. That way the images can stay within the column and keep its relative design shape.

Why do I need a responsive design?

Alot more people are using phones and tablets. Recent studies find that over 45 percent of americans own a smart phone and 30% or more own tablets and ipads.  Shipments of smartphones outpace those of regular phones obviously and soon more than desktop and laptop computers. If you have a current website look into your google analytics and see how much traffic you are getting from mobile. You can also see what the bounce rate is, or how often they click directly back when they see your page isn’t optimized for their device. So yes, you do need a responsive website if you want to compete for business online in the modern age. Thanks for reading. Laura.