Keeping it Consistent- Why You Need a Responsive Website Design

Today’s consumers are spending more and more of their time on their mobile devices. From browsing the Internet to catching up on current events, mobile devices have become an essential part of daily life. When it comes to your business, mobile devices are quickly becoming a useful tool for online shopping. In fact, 12 percent of consumers use their mobile devices to shop online at least twice a week, and this number is only expected to increase. In order to keep up with the trend of mobile shopping, it is important that you have a responsive site design for your online store.

Responsive Design

In order for your customers to be able to purchase your products or services from their mobile device, you must have a website that is responsive. So what does it mean to have a responsive website? Simply put, it means that no matter what device your customers are viewing your site on, whether it is their desktop computer, tablet or smartphone, your site looks exactly the same. Your site is able to adjust its images, content and framework to fit on any screen size, giving your customers the consistency that they are looking for. Select great responsive themes by Shopify that are optimized for every possible screen resolution and layout. There is nothing more annoying than coming across a website that has not implemented a responsive design, forcing you to zoom in and out on the page in order to read the content and navigate through the site.

Cost Advantage

Before the rise in popularity of responsive websites, business owners had to design and host two separate websites, one that was designed specifically for viewing on desktop computers, and one that was designed specifically for mobile devices. This set-up not only cost business owners more money in terms of monthly and yearly fees, but it also took more time to maintain the separate sites. Anytime an update was needed, it would take twice as long to implement the changes.

Analytic Advantage

When dealing with two separate sites, it was much more difficult for business owners to track and analyze visitor data. Responsive website design has made tracking visitors, conversions, search engine performance and your site’s overall performance much easier. With only one site to monitor, you can quickly see what is working on your site and what isn’t, and you can then make informed decisions about your marketing strategies in a matter of minutes

Consistent User Experience

Responsive website design will deliver a seamless experience to your customers no matter which device they are accessing your website with. Your site will have the same feel to it even if the layout has been adjusted to fit a particular device. Your customers can bookmark a page on your site, and be able to see a similar design when they pull it up later on a different device. Keeping your site consistent across devices through responsive site design will benefit your business with increased conversion rates.

Stay Open 24/7

When you have a website that is responsive, users can shop at your business whenever they want, and from wherever they are. With the constant motion that the world is in, it is important that your customers are able to access your site at all hours of the day and week. A sizeable chunk of your customers are turning to their mobile devices to access the web because of the 24/7 world that we live in, and if they are unable to access your website on these devices, you have a lot to lose. Making sure that your site can be accessed across a wide range of devices will ensure that your current customers and potential customers can access your products and services at any time of the day, and from anywhere that they may be.

Creating a site that users can access on a variety of devices is crucial to your business. With consumers becoming busier and busier, they need to be able to use their mobile devices to shop online, just like they would from their desktop computers. The easier you can make it for them to browse through your store, the more likely they will be to purchase your products and services. With a responsive design not only will your customers’ user experience be consistent and seamless, but you will be able to save your business money over time by only having one site to maintain. Those businesses that are not already taking advantage of responsive web design may be in danger of going out business, according to Joshua Steimle, a contributor for Forbes online. If you haven’t already decided to make the switch, it’s high time that you do.