* Updated December 2020 

Why Is a Responsive Web Design Important in My Business?

By definition a responsive web design is one where a site adapts the layout to the viewing environment by using fluid, proportion-based grids, flexible images, and CSS3 media queries, an extension of the media rule

Responsive web design has become more important as the amount of mobile traffic now accounts for more than half of total internet traffic. Therefore, Google announced Mobilegeddon in 2015, and started to boost the ratings of sites that are mobile friendly if the search was made from a mobile device. Responsive web design is an example of user interface plasticity.

Ok, enough “jargon”, I don’t expect every business owner to totally and completely understand the ins and outs of web design, but I do expect that every business owner understands the value of a customer. Whether it be new customer acquisition or customer retention.

To get straight to the point. Google has placed so much emphasis on the importance of a responsive, mobile-friendly web design, that sites not created responsive are being “pushed to the back of the line”.

What does this mean to the business owner?

Well, if your website is the first visual representation of your business and in most cases it is, chances are it will never be seen… And that simply isn’t good enough, especially if you rely on sales to fuel your business.

Unless you’re ok with being on page 20 and sales don’t matter….well, maybe 10, but either way your competitors are on page 1, so I guess it doesn’t matter much..

Our marketing agency primarily works in the B2B space and whenever I have “web conversations” with business owners the biggest objection that I hear is that “websites don’t matter much in my business”, “we are B2B” or some other excuse to justify living in the stone age.

With this response the first thing I think about is a movie where the scared kid closes his eyes in hopes that the boogie man doesn’t see him. Well, the truth of the matter is, just closing your eyes doesn’t make the boogie man go away. In this case we’ll call the boogie man Google and the lack of sales.

See here where Moz writes about Googles 2018 “Mobile First” announcement:

“It’s called “mobile-first” because it’s not a mobile-only index: for instance, if a site doesn’t have a mobile-friendly version, the desktop site can still be included in the index. But the lack of a mobile-friendly experience could impact negatively on the rankings of that site, and a site with a better mobile experience would potentially receive a rankings boost even for searchers on a desktop.

You may also want to think of the phrase “mobile-first” as a reference to the fact that the mobile version will be considered the primary version of your website.” – Moz

Here’s a couple quick tests to see if your site is responsive.

1. Hover your mouse to the edge of your browser until you see the two-directional arrow, then squeeze the browser inward to the size of a smartphone screen. If your site images and text don’t adjust and resize then your site is non-responsive, and this means that your site is less relevant than your competitors that do have a responsive site.
2. Another way to test your site is to open your site on your smartphone if you have to pinch and move over to read sentences. Your site is non-responsive.

Google has created some neat tools to give us more insight into how our sites are viewed. I’ve included links.

Google Mobile Friendly Test
Responsive Web Design

With this new announcement it only means that the playing field keeps getting more difficult to navigate. This is why your marketing strategy needs to be fluid. As a business owner you should continue to evolve, or you run the risk of being left behind or worst of all, being found irrelevant.

I realize how tough it is to keep up with all the trends. With so many moving parts in your business it benefits you to hire for your weakness.

Not everyone is expected to be a “marketing pro” or “web/seo guru” and as a business owner you shouldn’t try to be.

You should be focused on taking care of your customers and source other tasks to specialists. However, if you’re the type who enjoy a more hands-on approach, I’ve included a download to our ultimate website design checklist. Perhaps this will help make your web design project less painful.

Download Our Ultimate Website Design Checklist

If you prefer a more turn key solution, our web design team would be happy to talk with you about your options. Reach out to us here.

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