How Your Business Can Make the Most Out of Responsive Web Design
January 4, 2013 by 0 Comments
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The year 2012 may be the year to mark the arrival of so many outstanding mobile and tablet computer devices. And the more that people have a plethora of choices other than their desktop equipments, the shift in the way they consume media content suggests that more and more is needed to respond and provide users with the best web experience.
Enter responsive web design. Viewed more as a solution than a concept by some, in a nutshell, the idea of an adaptive design refers to the ability of a website to fit and scale depending on the set width of any hand-held phones or tablet devices so they work equally well on every device.
It will be recalled that it was in 2011 when Ethan Marcotte published his very influential Responsive Web Design book that drew both admirers and skeptics. How time flies and people’s tech lust change because this year, observers in the tech and news media, however, are quick to declare 2013 to be the year when this design philosophy will hug the spotlight.
On how this is done, it is often explained that this kind of design is achieved when a certain “media queries” are used in order to figure out the resolution of the device a website is being served on. In contrast to fixed-width websites, adaptive web experiences allows for images and grids to fit correctly to the screen because they exhibit flexibility and fluidity, respectively.
It’s not that hard to imagine, just consider that as you make your browser window smaller in a desktop browser, you will notice the images and content to shrink, as well as seeing the sidebar disappear.
So why bother now?
Consider that in the coming years, the once-dominant PC market might continue to see its slide as consumers allot their budgets to buying tablets and Smartphone. Couple that with the idea that for this year alone, sales projection of tablet devices is expected to peak at 100 million. Meanwhile, Nielsen have already released data supporting the claim that more than any year, there are more US mobile subscribers who own Smartphone than feature phones. Mobile is definitely in as the preferred mode by people to access the Internet and communicate with friends, families, and colleagues.
For those of us in the business and web design and development sector, this means building online presence geared for all the available screens that recently emerged. One option is definitely to come up with a mobile app. An obvious solution may be, but this one requires building for every app store (which could prove expensive for some start-ups with very small budgets). Contrast this to recent studies that indicate how users would like to consume their news – and, it is via mobile web vs. an app.
But that is just one side of the coin. And since adopting mobile web vs. an app is altogether debatable with their own set of rabid supporters and fans, we will shy away from diverting to that. Instead, our focus will still be about responsive web. To be particular, the benefit of making your site adaptive to the screen is undeniable: building a website once yet the potential to work across many screens that blossomed is immense.
For the business-wise, more satisfied users means deeper engagement. When your intended customers achieve their goals using your website, they quickly become your loyal customers. Developing even just a website but one that works perfectly well across thousands of screens is nevertheless good for your business.
The purpose of this article is not at all to discourage you to opt and get a mobile app for your organization’s digital presence. There are also obvious benefits to getting your own app, but the web has many different users who have many demands from us. But as an immediate solution, it is worth recommending that you can first consider responsive design as your immediate response. Not to mention if you are a budget-conscious company who wants to save from building a flexible and fluid website that is viewable in multiple platforms.
Finally, responsive web design will definitely continue to gain considerable attention beginning 2013 to the deeper stretch of 2014, and might also be here to stay. For the meantime, you can ask us for advice if you need help for your presence on the Web or just in case you need a reboot to catch up with this latest web trend.
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