Responsive Design for SEO
Ever heard of the term "responsive web design"?
If not, that's ok. This is actually a new trend that is taking off within the web industry and it should definitely be something that you need to keep your pulse on.
Being a web dev geek, I always try and stay in the know about the latest web design trends.
In this post I'm going to touch on the basics of what responsive web design is as well as what benefits it will bring to your website accessibility and SEO factors.
What is Responsive Web Design?
This term refers to building your site to cater for the plethora of different devices that are out there on the market. As you probably know mobile devices are only getting more and more popular by the day.
Personally, when I check my analytics on some of my sites, I can see that mobile traffic is increasing across the board.
It's because of this that having a responsive design will be of high benefit to you in the not too distant future.
With a responsive design, your websites layout will adjust to the dimensions of the device that is being used (e.g. iPhone, iPad, Samsung Galaxy, etc).
But Google doesn't care about this, why should I?
Think again...
Check out this post on the official Google Webmaster blog.
In case you missed it, here is the example of how exactly a responsive website works:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/devices/features.html
Does this mean I need to create my site to be responsive?
Ultimately it's up to you. If you're just starting out then perhaps don't focus on this too much and instead get more familiar with the fundamentals of online marketing. That being said, it should be something to keep on the back of you mind.
You need to realise the more accessible you make a website, the better the user experience will be, which in turn means more traffic (as bounce rate and page speed are part of Google's ranking algorithm) and ultimately more sales.
Responsive web design is still in it's infancy, but it's safe to safe more and more sites will begin to incorporate this technology to improve on their user's experience and increase their overall conversions.
Providing value to your visitors is key to your online business success, how your website looks and works as well as the quality content will get you going in the right direction.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post, as usual, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments area below.
Ride the wave :)
Leo
Recent Comments
6
Great post! I have a a friend who is now learning web designing and he was the first one who told me about the shrinking of the website to mobile devices. I'm really impressed with how the dimensions fits automatically when he showed it to me. I'm still waiting for him to finish his learning and then we will apply those things in our business soon. Thanks for telling everyone here at WA as well.
Leo, great post. I fully support responsive web design and have been implementing it for the past year or so in all my client work. Of course there are a few instances where I don't think it's necessary but for the most part its a great concept. Fortunately, there are many responsive wordpress themes out today that will help those who arent so technical.
Thanks Sielke. Yes, that's true. If one is not into the technical aspects of it all, then there are plenty of marketplaces out there that are providing responsive website design for quite affordable pricing.
See more comments
Thanks Leo, I am encountering this now as have just started using Elegant themes , ...looks good on my laptop but doesnt always come out so good on other devices...will have to explore some more :)
Yep, definitely becoming more of a trend. Despite not all browsers supporting this new technology, there are certain enhancements web devs can include to make these work across the board. Thanks for the comment.