To be simple responsive designs are websites that change and adapt according to the user’s viewing experience. From user point of view basically what will happen is the appearance of the website will change depending upon which device you are using to see the website.
The most common devices to visit a website are a smartphone, tablet, or a pc. Nowadays consumers are using different kinds of devices to connect to the internet and to browse the internet hence companies have to make sure that the customer’s viewing experience is not compromised. This is especially true when users access your website using a device that has a screen smaller than 15 inches. If you have a static website users have to scroll and zoom constantly which might make him/her annoyed enough to leave your site.
Tablet sales have exceeded over 100 million in 2013 which means that the users are accessing the web from a handheld device more and more. This means that the businesses will have to make websites optimized for handheld devices as well as computers.
A responsive website changes length and breadth depending on the device that is being used. The font size may also increase depending on how small the screen is. Images and videos will automatically resize to fit the user’s screen size. Images of importance, such as company logos, may be centered on the user’s screen to become a focal point.
It is easy to understand that going forward; responsive web design is the future. Mobile phone, tablet, and laptop sales are constantly on the rise, and desktop PC sales are on the decline. In this scenario, the companies and businesses not using responsive websites may lose sales due to backdated viewing experience. If you do not have a responsive design you most probably have different versions of your website each for mobile, tablet, and pc. If you have such a setup you have to maintain and manage all three websites separately.
This will cause a loss of time and money. Responsive design will also improve your SEO. It is also easier to keep track of your visitors if you have only one responsive webpage, as it is possible that the user switched from mobile to pc in the middle of a session. Responsive design also helps integrate flexibility for the future as and when new devices are invented.
Thus we have to conclude that creating a responsive website is the only way to be future-proof.
