Have you ever visited a website that requires you to scroll left and right to see the content? Static web design like this not only cause more work but can make you feel a bit irritated, especially when browsing on mobile devices.
Luckily, many websites have started to use responsive web design today. This approach can provide a better user experience that will result in a higher chance to attract more visitors.
So, what is responsive web design?
This article will explain what it is and how it works to help you access information online comfortably.
Image source Deposit Photos
What Is Responsive Web Design?
Responsive web design is a way to make a website look attractive on any devices you have, regardless of their screen sizes and platforms.
As most people rely on their mobile devices to search for information online — up to 52% of all web traffic, implementing a design that looks good both on desktops and mobile devices is beneficial.
Responsive web design is a breakthrough in website development. Basically, this method allows you to build a flexible-designed website that will serve any devices your visitors use. You should not worry about the content because it will look similarly lovely and hence makes the mobile browsing experience great.
Back then, the static design was the only method to develop websites. It used an absolute size design, targeting desktop browsers only. While the design looked good on most monitors, for smaller screens, users would struggle to see the whole content.
When mobile computing becomes popular, the static design turns obsolete. It looks awkward on mobile devices’ screen. So, using this type of design might be not ideal anymore.
If you are a business, having a static website will cause disadvantages for your online presence. In fact, 38% of internet users prefer to turn away from unappealing websites. That being said, building an attractive website with responsive design is vital to turn visitors into loyal customers.
Before moving on, I will explain what you need to have an excellent website for your online presence.
First, the best-matched domain name that represents your business. If you are unsure what name to use, domain name generators at Hostinger.com is worth trying. It gives you a list of domain names that might suit your needs. A unique professional name can give better online recognition and visibility.
Second, proper website planning. If most of your audience is mobile users, then having a responsive website is a must to give the best user experience. Or, if you want to design your own website, make sure you write good, clean code. Otherwise, it will cause more harm than good.
Third, regular optimization. This is important to ensure better performance like faster loading page because it affects buying decision. Also, implement a good SEO practice is a great idea to get more organic traffic -- free traffic that comes from the search engines.
Now, let’s learn how responsive design works.
Image source Deposit Photos
How Responsive Web Design Works?
In web development, CSS or Cascading Style Sheets handles the layout of an HTML document. With CSS, a web designer can apply many styles of a single HTML file.
Basically, an HTML document contains a header, navigation menu, content and footer. Each part has its own functions. The header is where your logo and name located, the navigation menu is for exploring the website, content is the section for your posts and footer deals with any additional information.
The idea of responsive web design is to make each part accessible without losing its main function. In short, it manages the viewport -- the area of the web page where the user sees.
That being said, responsive web design is about planning the whole design dealing with the structure of the content, the media you choose and the flexibility to handle different orientations.
At the header section, the code will make your logo and name adjust with the screen width. If your logo is too wide, it will be difficult to see when it is shrunk. That means the responsive web design will make you prepare for a certain logo to make it fit onto the mobile layout.
The navigation menus of most websites are horizontal. When coming across a smaller screen, the responsive web design will make it stack like a hamburger. The important thing is to ensure it offers a great aesthetic by setting the best padding for the clickable menus.
The content section is the most tricky one. If you design your website with more than one column, then you need to make sure that the second and third column will be in stack once it encounters a smaller screen. The key for this part is to set the max-width of the responsive layout.
For example, if you set the max-width to 480 pixels, the responsive layout will apply so that the content will be in stack. On the contrary, if the screen width is more than 480 pixels, it turns to its original design.
Not only that, you should never use fixed-width images on your content. As the layout will adapt to the screen, the fixed with images will make your website look ugly and disorganized.
In addition, responsive web design allows you to reserve the space for the main content only too. If your design has a side content, the code will transform it to be simple navigation.
As for the footer, it is pretty much the same as the header. While it might not have images, you should carefully pick the best typefaces to make the information readable when it shrank to adapt to the users' device screen.
Conclusion
Implementing responsive web design is not optional if you mean to target both desktop and mobile users.
This technique allows you to manage your website layout in such a way that it will make mobile browsing experience enjoyable. You will not miss any important information because this responsive web design can focus on the main content first.
Also, by eliminating the use of fixed-width media, it will benefit mobile users for having a mobile data-friendly.
So, get ready to make the best website design and turn your visitors to customers.