7 Business Advantages of Responsive Web Design

Responsive design creates a flexible and responsive web page optimised for the device that is accessing it.

This has been hailed as the ‘Year of Responsive Design’, and with increasing preference of readers to read news online across multiple devices (i.e. tablets and smartphones), it is becoming increasingly important.

1. Increasing your reach to tablet and mobile audiences

The proliferation of web applications on tablet and mobile devices has been the driving force. Traditionally users would be re-directed to a device-specific site, but now one site can be implemented across devices.

Tablet sales may exceed 100 million this year, meaning that responsive design has never been more important. Some Byte9 sites are already experiencing up to 40% traffic from tablet and mobile devices, giving a strong commercial imperative to accommodate smaller screens in a unified design.

2. Increase sales and conversion rates

Consistent user experience, devoid of redirections or CSS, will have a positive impact on conversion rates. Responsive design removes many old inconsistencies of multiple sites such as functionality and performance.

3. Consolidate your analytics and reporting

A single responsive site means no longer having to track user journeys, conversion paths, funnels and redirections between sites. Tools like Google Analytics are now optimised to handle multiple devices and responsive reporting. Tracking and analytics will continue to function and be condensed into a single report, enabling easier monitoring and analysis. 

4. Increase your visibility in search engines

Responsive Design means you can manage one website with a single set of links. This allows you to focus on link outreach with a consolidated Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy unified across devices.

Quality content which is regularly released improves your search engine ranking page positioning. Fewer resources can be wasted in low-level duplication of content across sites, increasing your chances or a higher ranking.

Additionally, Google suggest (which our analytics can confirm) that mobile-optimised, responsive sites feature prominently in localised search results.  

5. Save time and cost on mobile development

Standardised testing methodologies can now be used, removing the development, support and maintenance overheads related to having device-specific sites.

6. Save time and cost on site management

A single administrative interface can easily be optimised, using layout and workflow tools to manage the correct content, or site templates that are being used for different devices. 

Editorial staff can concentrate on producing content appropriate for each device, maximising the benefit and minimising what can be a huge editorial administrative overhead. 

7. Enhance user's offline browsing experience

The offline browsing capabilities of HTML5 means that sites can be easily accessed ‘on the go’. Contained in hybrid HTML5 web applications will increasingly be consumed on the move and in the absence of an internet connection.

Conclusion

Responsive design keep you ahead of the trend. The demand for media-rich mobile internet and apps is burgeoning, so several important implications must be addressed - development and maintenance costs, visibility in search engines and better conversion rates.

Tablet and smartphone sales are exploding. Responsive design is key, and content consumption on mobile devices will only continue to increase.