Responsive website design (RWD) is a recommended pattern. When websites are responsive, they offer better user experiences and prevent common SEO pitfalls that can hinder your Google rankings. While responsive website design is not an official Google ranking factor, Google has implied its importance on multiple occasions.
The question is how to create a responsive website — structurally and visually — and the answer does not readily appear to many marketers and designers. Here are seven ways to have a responsive website that benefit your SEO strategy and some tips on creating a more user-friendly site.
A Website Can Be Responsive?
Responsive Web Design (RWD) addresses the need to create web pages that render well across various devices and screen sizes.
Mobile Internet browsing accounts for nearly half of global web traffic, so website owners need to have pages that are accessible and convenient, even on a small screen, such as a tablet or smartphone.
Why the Need for a Website Design That’s Responsive?
Many website owners have been slow to adopt responsive web design, even though the percentage of users who will never return to a website that’s not mobile-friendly is 61 percent. The discussion about responsive design has continued for years, and the statistics are still not encouraging.
Companies and brands must also consider mobile-friendliness and RWD, all the more because mobile Internet usage went up from nearly 38 percent to almost 50 percent in 2021!
How RWD Benefits You
First, a website design that’s responsive is user-friendly. Mobile visitors usually have a short attention span, and they tend to have a lot of questions, which is why they like having answers on the spot. Google endorses this by saying that 53 percent of mobile users will leave a page that is not loaded in less than three seconds.
If your website takes too long to load, you will miss out on potential sales because Google won’t show your site to potential customers.
Responsive web design can improve your search engine rank by optimizing your site for mobile searches and providing a consistent experience across all devices. By providing a better user experience across all devices, Google can then promote your site.
If your traffic drops and you cannot retain customers, you will undoubtedly lose revenue. When customers visit your website and come across a long wait time or a site that does not display correctly on their small mobile screens, you miss out on valuable opportunities to attract customers and get them to convert into customers.
Second, responsive websites load much faster. Google has been changing its search results to provide users with the most relevant results for their search queries.
In 2018, Google announced mobile-first indexing, and Google mobile speed has been a ranking factor since then. These updates are related to how people search today due to the increase in mobile device use. Mobile responsive design helps you improve your SEO. SEO factors that affect your site speed load include Google ranking factors.
If your website isn’t fast, it can hurt your SEO and cause your site to lose traffic. As of March 2021, Google will immediately remove any desktop-only sites from its index.
Then, there’s a lower bounce rate, reflecting the percentage of users landing on a page and deciding to leave before using the rest of the website. Google takes it into account for ranking a page in a given search query.
A high bounce rate results in an overall ranking drop due to thin or irrelevant content or a poorly designed website when viewed on Google.
Although content is still king, it’s still safe to say that content can only do so much if it’s not optimized by responsive web design. Relevant content can only do so much if it doesn’t appeal to users and devices. Website design that’s user-friendly and responsive ensures that it has appeal by adjusting to each device.
The Conclusion of the Matter
A website’s aesthetics and functionality are as important as a physical store’s look and layout in a digital world. You must attract customers to stay and buy, not leave and switch to your competitor. RWD does matter, and you should pay attention to this trend ASAP.
Find responsive, purposeful website design in Raleigh, NC, at Multi-Touch Marketing. We offer SEO, PPC, social media marketing, and more! Get in touch with us today!