You know that having a web presence is essential for any business or organization, but just having a simple website isn’t always enough to get the job done. When people land on your site, you want them to have a great experience from the second they enter, and you want to make sure they find exactly what they’re looking for. A difficult to navigate or confusing site can turn visitors off, and make them bail before getting your message, so it’s important to make sure your website is responsive. A responsive website will respond to the device, browser size, platform, and orientation that your visitor is using. Read on to learn how to create a responsive website from the ground up.
Do Your Research
Before you start building your website, it’s necessary to know who will be visiting it, and how they’ll be accessing your site. In the past year, more than half of all web traffic was mobile, which means you want your site to look great not only on desktops and laptops but on tablets and smartphones as well. Tools like Google Analytics can give you some insight into how people are accessing your site, as well as how they use your site, and how traffic flows through your pages. This data can be useful when it comes to creating a site that flows smoothly and meets your users’ needs. Take a look at the data available, and ask yourself what steps you want visitors to take when they land on your site. From there, make it as easy as possible for them to follow those steps. Give them clear calls to action, make your site simple to navigate, and lay out your content in a visually appealing and concise way, without confusing them with too much text, too many images, or multiple messages.
Choose the Right Platform
Choosing the perfect content management system for website development is key in creating a beautiful and responsive website. Many of the content management systems available today (Drupal, WordPress) are free, open source, and allow for customization of nearly everything on the site, from font to color, to layout. But the most essential element to look at when choosing a CMS is optimizing content and pages to display properly on all devices. A website that isn’t optimized for mobile may lose out on customers, but a website that displays well in every type of browser and on desktop and mobile is appealing and useful. Making sure your website functions great on all platforms can make or break your conversion rate.
Focus on Experience
When it comes down to it, though, creating a responsive website is all about the experience that the user has when visiting your site. You want your site to be usable and easy to navigate so that users can find what they’re looking for in just a few clicks. A stellar experience will pull in clients and leave them hungry for more! Technology is constantly changing and new developments are happening every day, so keeping your website up to date is an essential step in good user experience. A sleek, stunning, informative website is what your customers want, and that’s where your focus should lie.
Rachel Horvath 