If you are a business man and an online marketer, you already know the importance of quality web design. Having a professional website and excellent marketing strategy will greatly help in increasing your business’ revenue and sales. In today’s technological world, having a spot in the online market place is essential. Having a business without a web property is like a business that barely exists. Although, many people think of having a website as basically just placing images and articles for the purpose of promotion, it is definitely more than that.
A professionally designed website does not only give you online exposure, it is also a great tool to help you stand out in the competition. In today’s world, people will no longer be searching business via their phonebooks anymore. With the help of the web, they will be able to pick one among you and your competitors. Therefore, you need to show them that you are the best among the others. In this article, you will be able to grasp on the opportunities and obstacles associated with responsive web design. You will also be able to sift out the best web design company that will give you the bang for your buck.
Responsive Web Design
Responsive web design is an approach in web development that aims in allowing web pages to be viewed that responds according to the size of the device a user is using. Responsive web design is popular among web design services because it gives users with multiple devices view the website. A website with responsive web design uses 3 components: fluid grid concept, flexible images and media queries and they work in the following ways:
- Fluid grid concept allows page element sizing to be in relative units or percentages rather than absolute ones like pixels or points.
- Flexible images are components that are also sized relatively. It prevents the web page to be displayed outside its containing element.
- Media queries enables the page to use different styles of CSS rules based on the characteristics and specifications of a device the website is being displayed on which is commonly the browser’s width.
The Opportunities
Here are few of the many benefits of having a responsive design for your website:
- Goes well with Google – responsive web design is Google’s recommended mobile configuration and it also referred it as the industry’s best practice. This is due to the fact that responsive web design has one URL and HTML at the same time, regardless of the type of device the site is being displayed on. This makes it easier for Google to index and organize the contents of certain web page. Moreover, having a responsive web design also gives you the benefit of a higher Google search ranking which is greatly beneficial for your business.
- Helps increase your reach – due to the fact that responsive web design is flexible to every device, reaching people becomes a whole lot easier. Nowadays, people tend to use mobile devices. A lot of people are always on the go and traveling, thus, mobile devices are becoming more popular. According to the article 7 Advantages of Responsive Web Design – TheByte9.com, tablet sales have been increasing which makes responsive web design more important than ever for website owners.
- Easier site management – having a website with responsive design is easier to manage. Many site owners hire professional web design agencies for site development and maintenance. In responsive web design, you no longer have to manage desktop and mobile device site separately. You can do the two at once. This is a lot better than having to manage two sites and two SEO campaigns. You gain the advantage of saving time and effort in managing your website.
- It is cost-effective – having a single site management that could conform to the requirements of various devices is essential. Managing two sites and two SEO campaigns can be costly as it might also require expertise from a web design professional. But with responsive web design, you only need to manage a single site and SEO campaign which can be done in-house. You no longer have to allocate separate budget to outsource it.
- Better browsing experience for users – many smart phones and other mobile devices have HTML5 enabled which means they have the capability to browse offline. Users can now read emails and articles in HTML5 which is perfect when they do not have access o the internet. This is both beneficial to site owners and the users. Site owners or web design companies are able to deliver quality content to web browsers even if they are offline.
- Increase conversion rate – for businesses, having a website is essential to its marketing system. Having a responsive website allows you to reach customers and give them the ease of access by removing certain barriers that multiple sites can give. Anyone can easily view your site while giving them the comfort to read the contents regardless of the type of device they are using. If you sell products online and you are thinking about the best design for your website, look no further, responsive web design is the one.
- Keep up with competition – responsive web design is just a recent development, thus, many websites aren’t responsive yet and not everyone is willing to make the switch because it’s new. According to the article 10 Business Advantages of Responsive Web Design – Hyphenet.com, Google has been planning to give special treatment to sites that are responsive. This will make tons of site owners seek help from web design agencies. If you are one of them, be wise in choosing the service you will invest to. Read reviews of web design companies to pick the right service provider.
The Obstacles
- Slower loading time – because of the unnecessary HTML/CSS codes download on mobile devices, loading time usually takes longer. This is considered one of the major disadvantages of having a responsive website. Many users will tent to close a site that takes up much time to load. This may affect your traffic and may hurt your business’ online exposure and sales.
- Longer development time – the creation and development of a responsive website takes longer than the standard one. It is trickier to code and would require in-depth knowledge from the designer. It is generally easier to create a responsive website from scratch than converting an existing one. If you want to have a responsive site, make sure you only choose among the best web design companies which will give you efficient service in a timely manner.
- Browser support – due to the fact that responsive web design is only recent in the industry, old devices and web browsers may not be able to support it. Though responsive websites are accessible to both desktops and mobile devices, outdated browsers and device systems cannot. Thus, your website may not be able to cater everyone and this may affect your business.
- Limited solutions – responsive websites operate through media queries which tell it the current screen size it is being viewed on. Older browsers do not have these media queries making it impossible to access. Moreover, since this concept in web design is new, there are only limited resources available. Encountering problems can be a pain in the neck, and thus, you need to seek help from web design firms to get appropriate solutions.
- Client orientation can be tough – on the part of a web design company, educating their client about responsive web design can also be difficult. Many people have little to no knowledge about this concept which makes them ignorant about its purpose and importance. This requires designers to introduce responsive web design and elaborate its advantages before they agree in its implementation.
- It can be expensive – because responsive web design is new and due to the fact that it takes longer to develop, costs incurred in the site’s creation can be bigger. However, this is not true to all. You can actually find cheaper ones that would create a responsive site for you. Check out a list of web design companies from com to see which one fits your budget.
Conclusion
Those are some of the opportunities and obstacles associated with having a responsive website. Everybody in the industry of business knows the importance of having a professional and well established web property. It gives every business men the ease of reaching prospects and keeps them a step ahead among other competitors. Having a website is also great for boosting offline sales, as many are into doing online research prior to making purchases. Therefore, you need to make sure you have the best web design that will help you achieve all the enticing benefits of having a website, and responsive design is the one to go for.
Looking for the right service to help you with web design for a small business? CrowdReviews.com gives you genuine reviews of web design companies. You may also want to check the latest rundown of the best web design companies that will help you create a great website.
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