Top 5 Essentials of an Engaging and Responsive Web Design. In the era of the smartphone, it is shown that Internet users are increasingly using their phone or tablet to browse the web. Also, the SEO agency or magento development must be of a very important contribution so that the Internet sites can overcome this technological advance and the new modalities of connection while adapting. Each connection terminal has its own characteristics and screen resolution of its own, which gives a different rendering compared to the base site. Adaptability implies rethinking all the ergonomics of a website to anticipate the characteristics and constraints of each medium. Responsive Design is today an essential solution if one wants to keep its presence on the internet and this, on all types of support.
Why a responsive design? Because tablets and smartphones are the “new computers” and the screens of these devices are all of different resolution and size, just like those of the conventional computer. Population uses smartphones to access to Internet at least once a day. And the number keeps increasing. Unsurprisingly, it is predicted that access to the Internet from a tablet or mobile phone will outpace the desktop very soon. Visitors to your website are not different. They expect your content to be easily navigable, no matter what device they use. They do not want to have to resize or not be able to click on the tabs of your menus. They just want to access your content so that it is readable and easy to access. Responsive design meets exactly these expectations. But what is responsive design? This is a way of designing a website so that its content automatically adapts to the resolution of the screen on which it is viewed. It is therefore expected during the design, how the site will adapt according to the size of the screen of the device used by your visitor to be always functional and accessible. The site can then intelligently adapt the menus, columns, images and even the structure so that it can be navigable properly on any type of screen (computer, tablet or smart phone). The basics of responsive design are multiple, here are some important points:
- Preserve a single URL or address regardless of the browser support (no need for a specific mobile URL)Responsive Design is the assurance of a unique URL: perfect for promotional campaigns. Responsive Design also demonstrates a strong interest in the commercial sector. Indeed, the non-updated site to the navigation support can greatly affect the shopping experience of the mobile or tablet user. The unique link to the original site allows the mobile support to keep the site’s information structure complete thus reducing the time required to adapt to the new format. The site is automatically displayed according to the screen without asking how the user wants to navigate.The classic version of the site remains available for those used to the original visual. If the benefits are numerous, we still note some disadvantages to Responsive Design. We are talking about download time. Indeed, in general the users are in the obligation to download in a useless way the code HTML and CSS. The loading time can be extended because of images that are often simply lengthened instead of resized. On the other hand, Responsive Design does not make it easy to adjust titles, descriptions and other content on mobile phones. In addition, the development time of Responsive Design is more important. The loading of all the elements constituting the page betrays the performance of the site. There is definitely more difficulty downloading the content of a “Responsive” site than the content of a specialized mobile site.
- Optimal visibility on all screens and supportsResponsive Design is a long-term strategic solution because it allows you to answer a search in a faster way. Indeed, the responsive design is faster and lighter because it allows displaying only the most relevant elements to mobile users. With responsive Web Design, there is no more link redirection problem. From its inception, there is very little maintenance to achieve which has a high impact on the cost of development and therefore, by this fact, is more interesting than the development of specialized mobile site.
- Maximum user experience developed according to the expectations and devices of mobile users Responsive Design does not generate any problems with site referencing. On the contrary, it is the ideal option if you want to offer your site in different versions. In addition, indexing is much better with Responsive Design, the latter adapting to all display media. Previews of images of a certain width in the pages of results of a search engine represent a considerable asset for SEO. Another advantage in referencing Responsive Design is that each page of the site has only one address. Inbound links all point to the same URL and thus facilitate SEO. In a site made in Responsive Design the savings are considerable since only one modification is necessary.
- One site is enough; all your efforts will be centralized.Increase the responsiveness of a website by adapting it to the different screen resolutions available. The new rules and properties of the CSS3 (media queries, micro formats …) allow a universal display of the website. Responsive Web Design (RWD) automatically adjusts the display of a web page to the screen size of the terminal being used. This technique of website design, or digital interface, meets a need of users, more and more to connect to the web from a mobile device.
- ExperienceResponsive Design makes it easy to navigate and enhance the user experience when it comes to viewing the site on a mobile device. Responsive Web Design is often confused with a broader concept, Adaptive Design. Responsive Design or Adaptive Design, both design methods aim to improve the mobile ergonomics of the website. This is a major challenge for companies, both in terms of SEO and to adapt to new uses.
What is Responsive Design? Responsive design is responsive / responsive / responsive design. This design allows modifying the layout of a site so that the content adapts to the screen regardless of the terminal used (smartphone, tablet, desktop, TV …). This is to adapt the site to all resolutions. In other words, content blocks (text and images) resize and reorganize according to the available space on the screen.
CSS3 (Cascading Style Sheets) made Responsive Web Design possible Responsive Web Design benefited from the arrival of CSS3’s Media Queries (dynamic style sheet management). A website designed in Responsive Web Design is designed as follows: · One identical HTML code base for all terminals.· A system of fluid grids where the contents of the page are placed.· Using CSS3 Media Queries to apply the correct style sheet.· Flexible / adaptive images whose size / resolution adjusts automatically. When the goal is reached, the interface of the website is readable and usable on all devices. The content narrows and expands at will without changing. Nevertheless, it is possible to hide content. For example, an image or text may only be visible on the website in desktop and tablet mode, and absent for mobile viewing.
Why should a site be mobile friendly? Let’s start again. A mobile friendly site is a site designed for optimal navigation and display on a mobile. The user does not need to zoom in / out with two fingers (“pinch to zoom”) or to scroll the page in all directions to understand where the menu is, see the image correctly, read the text etc. In short, a mobile friendly site provides visual comfort on a mobile interface. Here are some examples of important elements for a mobile friendly site: · The texts are in a typeface large enough to be readable· The space between buttons and links allows easy touch access.· Images and media are transmitted and adapted to the format.· The mobile user can easily fill out the forms. In early 2015, for the first time in the world, the number of mobile users surpassed the number of Internet users. Design for mobile sites has become essential Responsive Design VS Mobile Apps: which solution to retain? Advantages of mobile apps on responsive Design Not all sites have the same uses or the same constraints. A showcase site will not have the same requirements as an e-commerce site. Some sites, with specific needs in functionality and performance, will push the potential of responsive Design that will not suffice. In some cases, why not look at the side of Mobile Apps, these native applications having some advantages on responsive Web Design. A native application is indeed developed specifically for the mobile device on which it will run. It is designed, developed and compiled for a mobile OS (iOS or Android). This brings many of the following benefits: · Access to the phone’s features (GPS, accelerometer, GPU…)· Exploit device performance (3D in particular)· Operate the notification system· Publish your app through the Apple Store and Google Play
Conclusion Responsive design was very fast. Today, digital is everywhere, devices and screens extremely diverse (small, medium, large, very large …) and connected objects multiply. It has been a long time since it is no longer possible to ignore the mobile version of a site. However, it remains technically difficult to design an interface adapted to all terminals while enriching the user experience. There are many ways to convey the content of a website on a tablet or smartphone. Responsive design is a solution currently preferred although it is not the only one. Before embarking on a responsive site project and / or mobile friendly, mobile first or not, it will question the content, the budget to devote … and, above all, keep a user-oriented design.