There was a time when developing responsive websites was a marketing luxury. As smartphones and tablets became widespread, Internet searches on those devices also began to grow, and Google changed its algorithm to support this change in user behavior.
How to create a responsive website design?
1. Study your visitors
Each brand attracts its own unique audience. These customers can use a wide variety of devices, or they can stick with one or two. Knowing which devices are prevalent will help you desiEach brand attracts its own unique audience. These customers can use a wide variety of devices, or they can stick with one or two. Knowing which devices are prevalent will help you design a responsive site that meets their needs. This will help you prioritize adaptation for each device. Also, according to experts from conversionrate.store, analytics of user data can help build a better interaction with them.
2. Give priority to flexibility
Ethan Marcotte coined the term “responsive design” over a decade ago. Since then, responsive design has taken on a form of its own. It has been defined and revised by thousands of web designers trying to create their own.
Despite this, when he described responsive web design, he emphasized flexibility: instead of creating a rigid or ideal form for the site, he was convinced that designers should create a site that changes depending on the different devices of the users. Such elements include rubber layouts and even images.
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3. Clear navigation of the site
Clear navigation is always important, and this rule does not change in the process of creating any responsive design. If the home button or menu button on a site is difficult to spot, you can expect users to be annoyed and leave, leading to an increase in bounce rates, which in turn will inevitably lead to pessimization of the site’s pages in search results. Don’t forget that navigation is also important for conversions. Among other things, clear structured site navigation has a positive effect on the SEO-promotion of a site in search engines, in particular, this indicator is taken into account by Google better than others.
4. Image optimization
Optimizing images improves the responsiveness of your site’s design – images on the site can be rendered in three different sizes depending on the device on which the page is viewed, or they should be compressed as much as possible without losing quality – this will speed up the loading of the entire page, especially for weak devices or for users with a weak Internet connection, for example 3G.
Limit page size: The larger the page, the longer it takes to load. Smartphones also set a limit on how much downloaded content will remain in cache for future use. Possible solutions include JavaScript, gzip compression, or CSS concatenation.
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5. Hints for specific keyboards
Touchscreen phones are the norm today, but there was a time when people typed on the physical keyboards built into phones. Touchscreens improve the viewing experience but interfere with typing experience as users have to constantly switch between virtual keyboards to get punctuation marks, numbers and letters.
With keyboard triggers, your site can suggest specific keyboards for entering information. For example, when entering monetary amounts or phone numbers, a numeric keypad appears on the site. Then, to enter a name, he will offer to open the alphabet keyboard.
6. Design before creation
Regardless of whether you are planning to create a new site from scratch or update an old one, start with the responsive website design. Don’t just create something and then try to refine it. This will inevitably lead to high time and energy costs, and may even limit the available options.
When you start with design, after considering all the technical aspects, you can solve these and other problems:
- What colors stand out and contrast well with each other?
- What photographs would best complement these colors and the overall design?
- Will seniors and people with visual impairments be able to read the font and size of the text?
- How should the text be formatted to account for how a long paragraph might look on different screens?
- Does the site need special add-ons like an online store or a chatbot?
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7. Observe minimalism
For maximum user experience with your site, keep responsive design simple. Minimalism in website design has gained a lot of popularity over the past few years. While some people don’t like aesthetics, there is no doubt that minimalism improves the functionality and behavioral factors of your visitors, which positively impacts your search rankings. It removes the clutter that leads to increased loading times. The lightweight design also makes it easier for users to navigate.
Researchers estimate that by 2025, three quarters of Internet users worldwide will only use their smartphones to access the Internet. Use these tips to improve the responsive design of your website and stay tuned to the search engines. All this will undoubtedly lead to an increase in traffic to your site, and, accordingly, in an increase in sales.