Responsive Web Design

Responsive or adaptive design is a particular way of building a website in which the finished site adapts to the type of device, whatever it may be: a desktop or laptop computer, a tablet or a mobile phone. If your website adapts to every device’s screen size, you’ll no longer need several separate sites. Responsive design started to grow rapidly in popularity from 2013, and current trends show that demand for such websites will only increase, since search engines like Google index these sites better, give them higher quality scores and display the results in the top positions of the search listing.

A responsive website is one with different elements that respond to devices of different sizes and how their pages open. Everyone knows that opening an ordinary web page on a tablet or mobile phone looks very different: to see all the information you have to scroll to the right. Some elements may even become invisible or distorted. And if a website has a lot of graphics, it will run especially slowly on mobile phones. Responsive website design solves all of these problems, so your clients can view your site properly on any device.

A responsive website uses a fluid grid system – meaning all the site’s elements are measured in proportions rather than pixels. So if your page has three columns, you set their width relative to the width of the other columns (the first column takes up 50% of the page, the second 30%, the third 20%). Images, videos and other visual elements are resized in the same relative way.

What’s specific to responsive design:

• A tap of the finger. A responsive website is a great choice when you’re thinking about users of touchscreen tablets and mobile phones, who are used to controlling their devices with a single tap.
• Graphics and loading speed. With responsive design, you’ll no longer need to worry about scaling down graphics for mobile devices or about loading and download speeds.
• Apps and mobile versions. Since building an app or a mobile version for every device and operating system is especially difficult these days, the smartest solution is to choose a responsive website that will look great and be easy to use on every mobile device.

If you decide a responsive website is exactly what you need, please get in touch and we’ll advise you on any questions about website development or maintenance.