All the industry commentators agree: owning a responsive website is a 'must have' in 2014. Any business serious about its
online image will
need to adopt this approach to remain current, relevant and accessible, but still too many Australian businesses are slow to meet the new
demand.
The Australian public have a deserved reputation as early adopters of new technology. More than 10 million Australians already own
a
smartphone and use it on the internet daily. Add in the increasing use of tablets and the potential market this represents should be
obvious to all.
So why is responsive design the answer?
If your website is still using traditional, PC-oriented design that was adequate even twelve months ago, there is of course nothing to
prevent it being viewed on mobile devices. This will usually result in site visitors using those devices having a poor user experience, and
leaving the site because it is too slow, hard to read, hard to navigate, and hard to find information. And that translates to a lost customer
opportunity. Adapting your site for mobile devices leads to better site navigation, better information accessibility and overall improved
customer experience. When a visitor is using a smart device, you have a better chance of getting that visitor to stay on your site if you have a responsive
website.
A common response to this by many companies up to now has been to build a separate mobile-oriented site. However, this results in
delay whilst the user is directed to a different, mobile specific website, often with a further delaying prompt asking which site they wish to
use.
Responsive design means you only have one website, on one URL, with coding that adapts to any screen size no matter what device the
site is being viewed on. Regardless of the device used to visit, the interaction is seamless and the responsive coding ensures that mobile
devices load pages as quickly and effectively as traditional PCs.
A further advantage of the responsive design approach is affordability. Creating a responsive website by adapting your current site is
almost invariably much cheaper than
creating a (good) app.
Creating a mobile specific site where you need a separate URL to access the site not only will cost you almost as much as your original site,
but will leave you with the administrative headache of maintaining two sets of content!
Flexibility - a responsive website offers users flexibly to easily browse, shop and purchase your services or goods anywhere at any
time.
One of the big benefits of responsive design is that the size of the template is designed based on screen size not device. This means that
no matter what size screen someone is using to view your website it will display properly. So in the future as new devices (TVs, watches,
glasses, etc.) are being used for web browsing, your responsive site will still look beautiful.
Last but not least, Google’s Pierre Farr went on the record as long ago as 2012 to declare that Google prefers responsive web design. So a
responsive
website will also score highly with search engines.
Now that you're convinced you should develop your own responsive website, what's next? Find the right company to help you go in this
direction of course. Epic Websites and Services have the experience and designers who can create a professional responsive website, that
is designed for easy and simple usability and navigation.
Still not sure? Give us a call on 02 9918 0741 to discuss how we can help you reach over 10 million Australians!