Making it Mobile : Building Sites That Work on all Devices

Last year we became one of only a few firms building sites with responsive web design. At the time, the term “Responsive Web Design” wasn’t widely known. Today, it’s gaining traction and being discussed more, but it’s still the exception, not the norm. As the name implies, with responsive web design your site responds to the size of the screen and adjusts accordingly. So one site will work automatically on all devices. This eliminates the need for a mobile site.

Truth be told, we love Responsive Web Design. Since implementing it with the sites we’ve built, it has worked flawlessly. While it does require more work than a standard website build, it’s benefits are worth it. On our end, we design for five common device sizes. This includes a standard laptop/desktop, a large tablet, a small tablet, a horizontal smartphone and a vertical smartphone. So when the site is viewed, it displays the appropriate design.

From a client’s perspective, they absolutely love it. They are able to refer visitors to their site and have confidence it will look great regardless of the device. Since mobile devices use touch technology, as opposed to the click of a mouse, we also incorporate touch controls with our web sites. For example, a site we just launched for O’Connor Numismatics allows you to flip though their gallery of coins via the swipe of a finger.

Responsive Web Design provides much more than mobility, it provides a great user experience. When the user views the site on their mobile device, there’s no need to pinch and zoom. It just works. The site looks great and content is highly readable. They can use the site just like they would on a desktop. Ultimately, this leads to greater user satisfaction, a reduced bounce rate and longer site viewing times.

Want to make your site responsive? We’d love to talk. Just give us a shout or drop us a note.