Browsing the net on mobile devices has come a long way in recent years, and much like the introduction of the mobile phone itself, it now seems impossible to imagine a world without mobile internet access. The internet itself has already proven to be a fantastic marketing tool from businesses and brands, and the proliferation of simple, and fast mobile access, as well as the ever increasing range of mobile devices, has further compounded the benefits of internet marketing.

However, the rate at which smartphones and mobile devices are changing, expanding, and innovating also poses challenges for businesses that need to ensure their web content is accessible on all forms of device and screen size. This is where responsive web design comes into play. Vertical Consulting offer fully integrated web solutions, meaning a single site can serve both traditional computer internet sites, as well as a wide range of mobile devices. This is particularly important, since mobile internet usage is expected to overtake desktop usage this year. The current trends certainly speak for themselves: Just under 70% of users say that they are much more likely to make purchases from mobile friendly sites. In order to maximise sales, many businesses currently run two separate sites – one optimized for traditional desktop use, and one for mobile.

Responsive web design streamlines websites

The advantages of responsive web design start to become much clearer once these trends are taken into account for a number of reasons. In order to fully understand these advantages however, it’s useful to have a clear overview of what responsive web design actually means, and what a business can expect from a responsive web design agency. At it’s core, responsive web design simply means that a site will automatically adjust itself to any screen size, on any device. Currently, running separate websites for desktop and mobile devices can be a costly process, and is further complicated by the fact that each different mobile device, from android smartphones to Apple tablets, require some variation of source code to make sure users get the best experience. Responsive web design streamlines websites to function equally well across all platforms.

Given the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the web itself, responsive web design is also becoming much more beneficial when it comes to optimizing SEO.Google has already stated that responsive web design is industry best practice, and this alone is enough to make it extremely important for web marketing. Google searches hold just under 70% of all search market share, and any practice that helps a site run smoothly with Google features and searches will reap much better results through SEO. Thanks to the fact that responsive web design means a site will only have one url, and the same html no matter the what device it is being accessed from, Google searches find responsive sites much easier to catalogue and organise. This translates into many more hits for a responsive site, especially with optimized SEO content

Implementing  responsive web design also means that a business won’t have to run two separate SEO campaigns for mobile and desktop. While it is still being debated about whether separate SEO campaigns are more effective (mainly due to the fact that smartphone and mobile device users tend to search slightly differently than desktop users), almost all of the advantages of separate SEO campaigns are easily incorporated into responsive web design. If a mobile user is searching for a cinema for example, they may be more likely to use the words’close by’, ’nearby’, ’nearest’, and so on. The relevant keywords for mobile SEO campaigns are in general, however, easy to incorporate into and overreaching SEO approach that fits with a responsively designed site

While all of the discussed aspects of responsive web design already make it an attractive option for businesses, perhaps the most overriding benefit is the ability to effectively future proof internet presence. Once a responsive web design agency implements a site for example, there will be no need to constantly have to recode the site for new and emerging devices. Instead, time and money can be spent on streamlining user experience, SEO optimisation, and other day to day aspects. Responsive web design is already proving to be an effective solution for many, and the faster businesses take advantage of  responsive web design the faster they can reap the benefits.

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