12 Benefits of a Responsive Web Design

Responsive is the current buzz word in web design, but is it really worth all the hype? Couldn't you simply have a separate site for mobile and desktop? Everyone seems to be turning towards responsive design over separate website interfaces, but that's no reason to take the plunge yourself. You should do the research and recognize the benefits yourself before you decide to make your website responsive. Begin with these 12 excellent benefits of responsive web design.

Flexibility

Your content is flexible enough to move seamlessly from one screen to the next with responsive design. This means that users have the flexibility to access your website on any of their devices without distorted content or slow loading times.

Google Recommended

Usually, when Google recommends something to the millions of digital marketers that use their search engines, they should listen. Besides the fact that Google owns 67 percent of the search market, they are also devoted to the user experience. They know from experience that users love responsive design, so if they tell you that you need to make your website responsive, that's what you should do.

Improved User Experience

Content may be king in the digital marketing realm, but if your users can't access it with ease, it doesn't do you any good. When you make your website responsive, the content will come to the page quickly and without distortion. There is no manual resizing necessary to get it to fit; the responsive web design takes care of customer desires for you.

Easy to Manage

When you have a separate website for desktop and mobile, you also need two separate content strategies, SEO campaigns, and design teams. Needless to say, it can get pretty complicated. Responsive design has a single foundation that can run on the same strategies and campaigns, meaning there is far less work involved for you.

Cost Effective

Despite rumors that responsive design will be one of the most expensive moves you can make, it's actually significantly cheaper to create a responsive design. Depending on the features you want, the initial cost of a responsive design can be more expensive, but the reduced overhead that comes with fewer marketing needs, personnel, and analytics makes it more affordable in the long run.

Avoided Duplicate Content

Thanks to the Panda update and the more recent Quality update in Google's search ranking algorithm, duplicate content can majorly hurt your rankings. Separate sites for mobile and desktop puts you at risk for running duplicate content on the web. Now that Google is including mobile-friendly sites into their rankings, content published on the mobile web crosses over with your desktop content, meaning that you could be publishing duplicated content without realizing it.

Stronger Link Building

Link building only works if the consumers that click on them make it to your website. When your website doesn't fit into the responsive mold, the website will load slower, dampening the user experience. Responsive websites promotes strong link building as it helps users get to the location you want them to.

Lower Bounce Rate

Approximately half of all users report difficulty in viewing a static site, which encourages them to go to a competitor's site instead. When your website isn't responsive, the speed of your web page and the appearance of the content is a major problem, contributing to a significantly higher bounce rate.

Faster Page Speeds

Unfortunately, the average page load time for all devices is seven seconds, which is significantly slower than the ideal time of one second. Forty percent of all mobile users will abandon a web page if it takes more than three seconds to load. This clearly illustrates the necessity of faster loading times for mobile devices, which is something responsive web design can deliver.

Higher Conversion Rates

Responsive design means that your users can make purchases directly through your secure site instead of being re-directed to a device-specific site, which takes time and often crashes. The convenience of making a transaction on a page that a consumer can trust leads to increased conversions and fewer customers lost to competitor websites.

Easier Reporting

Tracking and analytics are some of the most important factors of a successful website, and when you have a responsive web design, you can see all of these reports on one, easy-to-read page. It allows you to compare and contrast what's working and what's not for all devices, and it eliminates the confusion that comes from multiple reports.

More Efficient Site Management

The management of your responsive website will cost much less and take much less time than the management of two separate sites. There is less content to manage and you can access all information on a single interface rather than dealing with the complexities of two.

The decision to go responsive on your web design is ultimately up to you. It is possible to manage separate websites for multiple devices, but it will take more time and money. The benefits of going responsive are clear. Now it's up to you to make it happen.